The Interregnum
by Helena Fallon
Summary: Sequel to 'The In-Between Times'.The consequences of the financial cuts mean many changes for the BAU.Gideon has left and has his own road to travel.Max,Arthur and Don still have roles to play in the lives of the team and their absent colleagues.
1. Chapter 1

**The Interregnum**

**(Sequel to The In-Between Times)**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Chapter 1**

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction and there is no intention of infringement of copyright of the Criminal Minds series. I have borrowed some Criminal Minds characters to play alongside some I have invented but I do claim the copy right of the characters I have taken care to create and research.

**In memory of Helen Rinaldi who wrote an occasional journal over the course of her final decade. This journal revealed her inner thoughts, her observations of the continent where she was then living and all the little things she felt that she couldn't trouble her friends with. For her friends, who finally got to read these very personal entries, it reminded us of the wonderful person we had once laughed and cried alongside, whose belief in the goodness of humanity outshone the pain of her final years. **

It was almost 1:30 when Spencer walked through the glass doors of Fairfax Estates and entered the elegantly designed reception area with its champagne coloured walls and light oak floor that complimented the gentian blue leather seating, light oak furnishings and tall green foliage. There were no flowers because Glenda, one of the receptionists, suffered from hayfever. There were several paintings on the walls that on closer inspection a viewer would find that they were limited edition JEM prints of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Glenda greeted Spencer with a radiant smile, "Hello Spencer, Jo will be surprised she's working in her office and has no appointments all afternoon," she told the young man who she thought was looking a little subdued. But then she dismissed the idea and put it down to the dismal colours he was wearing that day; grey slacks, grey wool jacket, black cashmere v necked vest over a leaf green shirt and topped off with a silver grey tie with a tiny green hexagonal design. Glenda always thought he looked better in deep reds and blues but he did have a liking for greens and browns…

"Thanks Glenda," he said as he turned to the left and tapped on the second door he came to.

"Come!" a familiar voice summoned but Spencer's stomach turned with the rising doubt over how she would respond to his news.

He entered and closed the door behind him and saw Jo over by the window perched on her stool over a sloping artist's desk that displayed plans of an apartment layout. She looked up and the smile was instantly on her face and then became more guarded as she picked up his mood.

"Spencer…somethings wrong…What's happened?"

He took a deep breath and thought he would just get it over with.

"I've been seconded to Maryland to work with the 'Crimes Against Children Unit," he said but his intense eyes never left hers as he was trying to read her reaction, every nuance was under scrutiny.

Jo slipped off the stool and made her way over to him and just stood before him, staring into his eyes with her own steady dark orbs.

"Can I come with you?" she simply asked and Spencer felt the tension over flow.

He reached and hugged her close revelling in the normality of the hint of the jasmine perfume she wore.

He whispered into her dark curls, "You'll come…I want you to be with me…It's not the easiest of assignments, none of us like things where children are involved."

Jo hugged him and thought she could feel him shaking a little as she slipped her arms under the jacket and rubbed the cashmere clad back.

"Were you thinking of leaving me behind?" she challenged looking into his face.

"I know we'd discussed the possibility of moving but it's finally happened and …I didn't dare think too deeply if you wanted to change your mind with the reality…"

"Spencer," she said firmly, "I'm going with you…When?"

"I've got to report to Katie Cole on Monday morning."

Her eyes widened, "Don't give you much time to sort out accommodation!"

"I've just got to see her then I don't know when I will actually start," he replied but Jo noted the tone of apology.

"Well, it's close and I can get to work here and there are some nice places…"

There was a knock on the door. Jo let go of Spencer but he didn't like feeling the loss of her warmth. "Come!" she called.

Jeff Bevan walked in looking a little apprehensive, "Where?" he asked without preamble and Spencer was pleased for the bluntness and closeness of this family.

"Oh Uncle Jeff, it's only the Maryland office…"

He grinned, "Oh that's good we'll soon find you a safe place to live, we do have properties in the Maryland commuting areas,"

Marilyn slipped in to join them. "Did I hear Maryland. Shall we take a look at what's available? I know we have some nice places there because I chose them myself," the Aunt said softly and Spencer sensed the invisible family ties wrap around him and he felt a little more settled for the first time that day.

The two women disappeared to the far corner of the room where Jo had her computer and they were quickly reviewing the stock of property available.

"Is it permanent?" Jeff asked.

"No, it's a secondment to cover for maternity leave. I'll be working under a woman I've worked with before and she's very good but her deputy is expecting in 6 months time. She has type1 diabetes so the doctors are very careful with her…"

Jeff smiled, "So you're keeping your apartment in Alexandria then?"

"Of course! The psych department at Quantico say they're going to call on me to help with psych evaluations so I'll need it. Besides, I've finally got it how I want it…Typical really...took me five years to decorate and furnish it to how I want and then I get moved!" Spencer grumbled but he was grinning because Jo had said she was going with him and suddenly the world had stopped spinning crazily and he felt more in control of things again. What was it that Gideon had written…'A profiler needs to have a solid footing' …Spencer knew that for him Jo was definitely part of his foundations for coping with the job.

"So whereabouts is the office?" Jeff asked and was pleased that Spencer and Jo were staying together. The family saw them as a stable couple and he and Marilyn looked upon them as like their own children.

"College Park," Spencer replied still watching his Jo beside her Aunt at the computer.

"Not Baltimore?" said Jo looking up and a little puzzled, "I thought it would be Baltimore…"

"No, the Crimes Against Children Unit is based in College Park…why?" and saw two beaming women staring at him. The family likeness was all too evident, the broad open face of the Petersen stamp although Marilyn had the blond hair of her Nordic ancestry while her older brother had passed on the very dark brown Italian hair to his son and daughter.

"Oh College Park is a nice area and very easy to get to Washington from there because it has it's own station with the metro link. Then there's the Interstate 95 so it's easy to get back to Alexandria…Just like a man not to think of those things!" Marilyn said with a teasing tone, "We have a couple of developments in Berwyn Heights and three houses there, it's a nice little town. But College Park itself is pleasant and we have a several apartments there but I think they are all taken at the moment by university lecturers."

"Yes, we do have some very nice property there," agreed Jeff, "Mmm…it may be a tough placement but the area has its compensations," continued Jeff but Spencer was observing the women plotting the re-location, he didn't mind about where he lived just as long as Jo was with him.

"Let's leave them to it, lets go and ring Margaret and tell her your news, she'll soon tell everyone else…" Jeff invited and they slipped out into his office and Jeff went to get him some coffee while Spencer told Margaret Petersen about the changes to come.

Spencer's self-doubt concerning his relationship was soon totally dispelled, as everyone else in the Petersen family seemed to naturally think that Jo would be going with him. In fact, Spencer realised that if he had not asked Jo to go with him then the family would have been disappointed and worried that there were problems between the young couple. While at the office, Alan rang to talk about the new posting and to wish him well saying that it was quite an easy drive to that part of Maryland so he and Margaret would be visiting once they were settled. Alan also realised that the work would be emotionally demanding but the judge advised Spencer to make sure that he left the work at the office when he went home. Spencer acknowledged the good sense of Jo's father counsel and it added another pillar of stability to his world. Gideon may have moved on but so had Spencer's world since his time in the Clinic. In fact Gideon was no longer central to his world like in the past. The other team members obviously thought that Gideon's desertion of the BAU was a personal loss to the genius but it was not as devastating as it would have been before he had met Jo and the rest of her family. The Petersens and the Bevans were part of his other off duty world now and one that held more stability for Spencer Reid than Jason Gideon had ever done. He hoped Gideon was safe and he cared about his welfare but Spencer felt that their relationship had been evolving to a more mature level of respected colleagues before he had suddenly left.

Melinda rang and chatted and also assured Spencer that they would still visit and the children would look upon it as an adventure to go somewhere new. Spencer began to feel more at ease as this family gathered him into its bosom, he had always longed for this feeling of belonging to a strong family unit and now he felt the safety net of this one catch him and he felt loved for who he was.

Marilyn and Jeff insisted that the Maryland apartment, or house they chose for the duration of his placement, was going to be effectively rent free as a perk of Jo's continued employment with the company. It was very generous and would enable the pair to save a good portion of their salaries for perhaps a future vacation and the Petersens hoped a house together at some stage. They decided to go and view a few properties the next day, as long as it was in a safe area and had enough space for Jo to paint, neither of them seemed to be very bothered about the actual property. Jeff shook his head amused at the young couple but the pair obviously viewed Alexandria as their real home.

Meanwhile, Aaron Hotchner was enjoying a Friday at home preparing for his new challenge. The things he had packed up from his BAU office were carefully placed in the attic room awaiting his return he firmly told himself.

Max had rung him at 7 a.m. to tell him of Gideon's departure and Reid's actions. He asked Max to call him when he knew what was going to happen with the BAU now that Gideon was no longer in the picture and decided to get up and have an early breakfast. Hayley had quickly fallen back to sleep after Max's call but for Hotch once awake it was difficult to just lie there.

"What happened to having a lazy day?" Hayley asked as he came down from the attic stairs.

"I got woken by Max's call and then I decided to put those things I'd brought from the BAU upstairs…I thought they would be better stowed up there than in the garage. Do you have any plans for today?" he asked to imply his intention to spend time with the family.

"You are sure that you're not going to be called in to help with the BAU again?" Hayley asked suspiciously, especially after the recent Milwaukee case.

"Look, the changes are being implemented now. From Monday I'm based at the Washington office. There will be no travelling around the country at a moments notice although there may be the occasional working dinner to press home the Bureau's position," he said and walked over to Hayley to put his arms around her.

"The good bit is that I get to be home every night even if I can't guarantee the time," he added as he hugged her.

"What do you think is going to happen to the BAU now Gideon has resigned?" Hayley pressed because she knew he worried about the younger agents.

"I don't know but they will be under some stress because the Director had no intention of going easy on Strauss."

"Well she deserves to be taught a lesson," Hayley replied loyally.

"She didn't understand the nature of the work and had a glimpse of it in Milwaukee and it distressed her. She'll not forget that experience and, to be honest, I hope it gives her a few sleepless nights because she deserves them with how she has treated people," Hotch said firmly and Hayley hugged him knowing that this woman had been unreasonable and totally crossed her husband. Aaron didn't usually react so strongly against people unless they had done something he considered to be totally unfair.

"Daddee!" Jack shouted as he appeared on the landing in his sleep suit. Both parents broke apart and smiled back at his delighted grin to see his father there.

"Daddee play!" he ordered.

"Jack we've got to get you dressed and have breakfast …then we play," Hotch said gathering up his son and pushed away his worries about his former colleagues.

The rest of the day for the Hotchners was spent in the routine world of shopping and play. Aaron was more than happy to kick a ball around the park with Jack while Hayley organised lunch. A sudden shower of rain meant that the afternoon plans became concentrated upon indoor play but water play at the kitchen sink with various plastic cups, spoons and boats kept Jack happy for a good two hours before he pronounced that he was sleepy. Hayley mopped the floor and when she returned to the living room found her husband crashed out on the sofa watching a trashy ancient film.

"Aaron!" she laughed.

He looked up sheepishly, "Jeez Hayley, I never thought I'd feel so tired playing and supervising Jack…" he admitted but Hayley looked on sympathetically knowing that the intensity of the past few months had finally taken their toll on the man.

"Is there enough room for me?" she asked with twinkling eyes and Aaron moved over and they sat together laughing the afternoon away with an appalling film because they didn't want anything too demanding.

At a little after 6 o'clock Hotchner's cell sounded and Hayley gave him a bemused look as he took his cell and headed for the study.

"Hotchner,"

"Hotch you asked me to ring with news of the BAU when things were more settled," said Max.

"Yeah, what's happening, and how is Reid?"

"Reid has been seconded to cover maternity leave at the CACU, under Katie Cole, it's her deputy who's taking the leave. It will be good experience for him but I also have Arthur at College Park twice a week because they have had cuts with the psych department at the complex there. Would you believe the lead psych and his deputy were retired at the same time and I couldn't persuade either to stay a little longer…you see the stress gets to us too!"

Hotch sighed at the news, "That's a tough placement but he got on well with Katie when we worked that Peter case with her. How did the rest of the team take it with Gideon going as well?"

"They were more concerned about the effect of Gideon abandoning Reid and were not expecting him to be re-deployed. I went down to the BAU in the afternoon and they were all pretty subdued. Barry reckons that they were shocked that it was Reid who was moved and they were very surprised when it filtered back that he would be covering for Katie's deputy. It pulled Morgan up a bit because he saw that management was obviously continuing Reid's training even if other agents were left treading water. Prentiss was interesting because she thought it was a very tough assignment and didn't envy Reid but she said to me that it would do the genius good to get away from the BAU for a bit and develop his own reputation. She's a thoughtful woman with a lot of sense when it comes to managing other agents, I think she might be good as a deputy with another unit."

"You don't see Morgan as management material?"

"He has got to curb that need to be the all action agent and quieten down. He's impatient and would get very frustrated with the management meetings and the politics whereas Prentiss has seen all that as the child of diplomats and its all second nature to her."

"Yes, I agree but Morgan may not like it if he doesn't get the opportunities like the others…" replied Hotch who understood all too well what Max was saying.

"Liquid tends to find its own level, Hotch, the coming months having to work on their own in the field will be a challenge to both Prentiss and Morgan. Barry has been warned that he may be pulled back into field work."

"How did he take that?" Hotch asked because he knew that he had enjoyed the field work with the old team under Gideon.

"Barry just nodded and said that at least he had the experience of being trained by Gideon and he'd never forgotten the work. Barry is good with people that is why he manages that bullpen well so Strauss won't want him out of the office too much. The thinking at the moment is that Barry will head the initial briefing of cases and he will choose the agent to be sent out to a case. I know Morgan and Barry clashed when he worked with the team, while Reid was on sick leave, but he's a very experienced profiler and the senior now even if Morgan didn't like his style of doing things."

"I hope Morgan doesn't make waves because he's not automatically sent out…"

"Yes…I think Barry is very aware of Morgan's temperament, but it will be his job to choose the agent most appropriate to the case and not the one whose feeling 'stir-crazy' because he's been confined to the office for weeks," Max assured.

"I don't envy Barry's position now. I'm the one who persuaded him to stay with the BAU because he could be relied upon to keep things running smoothly while I was away with the team," confessed Hotch.

"I know and he will still be trying to keep the place running smoothly until you get back!"

"So there are no plans to replace Gideon then?"

"No…the Director meant it…Strauss has annoyed too many people and she is being given enough rope to show him what she can do…"

"She's not going to cope," Hotch said alarmed.

"It will soon become apparent to her and then she will have to ask for help won't she…People don't want the BAU, it's one of the most demanding units and the experienced career agents need some profiling in their backgrounds even to be considered for such a position. There are very few out there and they don't want the hassle of it at the moment with the cuts…Anyway that's it for now."

"Anything about Gideon?" Hotch asked hoping that Max was using his contacts to keep a track on the depressed man.

"He's been spotted driving through Pennsylvania, probably heading to see Stephen."

"Yeah, that would make sense. I wish he had personally said 'goodbye' to Reid but at least he left him a letter." Hotch said and hoped Reid was coping but he didn't want to ring him because he felt he had enough to sort out over the coming days. Hotch also believed that Reid needed to feel that he had the strength to cope without his old colleagues interfering at every hurdle.

"Reid will be all right, the Petersens are a good family and Jo will go with him even if he doubts himself…she will be with him," said Max firmly.

"I've never met her so I don't know…"

"I know her parents and they would have been very careful with whom their daughter mixed with after her brush with death. Craig Petersen wouldn't introduce his sister to any man he hadn't first personally vetted…"

"Oh…very protective of her…"

"Exactly, the New York boyfriend dropped her because she wasn't perfect after the attack and it took a few years for her to get her confidence back…But you ought to make a point of meeting her. I'm going to have them over for one of our dinners just before Christmas."

" I told Reid that I would invite them over here once we were all settled into the new routine," Hotch replied and felt that he must not let that opportunity slip away and decided that by the end of January they would be over for a meal.

"Good idea, Hotch…We'll have to exchange notes!" said Max with a mischievous tone to his voice and Hotch knew that Max would do no such thing because he respected his guests far too much to gossip about them behind their backs."

Hotch laughed, "Right as if you would but I am really looking forward to meeting Jo because the few times that Reid spoke about her he just sounded so happy."

"Yes, that is why I'm hoping he'll cope with this secondment," Hotch then heard a female voice tell Max that the meal was being put on the table…"I've got to go my dinner's ready and we have a daughter sitting down with us for once…Goodnight Hotch."

"'Night Max and thank you," said Hotch and the line went dead. He didn't like the changes to his unit but this was the sort of thing that happened when financial cuts had to be implemented.

"Everything all right?" Hayley asked quietly from the study door.

"Yeah, nothing I can alter at this moment," he replied and smiled at her. Hotch was going to make the most of this weekend with his family before his new work began on Monday.

The night closed in and Gideon saw that there was a Motel ahead; he knew that he needed to stop and get some rest. He had been driving most of the day through Pennsylvania vaguely heading north trying to escape the encroaching blackness that was trying to overtake the grey that was now his world. He parked, signed in and found the room small but clean. There was a small diner attached to the Motel that sold equally plain but wholesome food that was cooked by the wife and daughter of the owner.

He sat in his room and hoped that Spencer would forgive him but he just didn't have the emotional strength to say goodbye to his face. He had not wanted to see Spencer's enormous expressive eyes shining their concern his way. No, Gideon knew he had to cut loose and try and piece his life together again before the job totally consumed him. Since Sarah's death he had found it difficult to respond to others who had tried to include him into their lives. It sounded so selfish to reject their concern in this way but sometimes the hurt was so deep that you had to get well away from those that reminded you of the very thing that had destroyed your happy world. He couldn't even go back to the BAU to clear his office but he suspected that Hotch would take care of that and his things would be stowed away for him. Gideon didn't even want the photographs that reminded him of his successes, not at that moment, because they reminded him of the job, the job that had been instrumental in Sarah's death. If he had not been a profiler, if he had not originally let Frank go for the children…then none of what happened would have come about and he would have retired to be with Sarah.

The myriad of colours that had filled the days shared with Sarah were now gone, it was now all a grey world to him, everything around him seemed without the vibrant colours of life and diversity of the world. He lay on the bed but the darkness in the room was entering his inner word too and he had to fight that, he had to see Stephen first and try and make amends.

Gideon remembered how well he had got on with Sarah's sons. They had each made a point of telling him after her funeral how happy their Mom had been with him and it was those memories that they hoped he would treasure as much as her children would. It had made Jason Gideon feel very humble, they seemed to be eager to include him in their lives even if Gideon felt the guilt heavily in his heart for their mother's death.

'Guilt'... he thought about the guilt he was now drowning in. He prayed that Spencer would have the maturity to understand why he couldn't face him with his departure. He had been planning it during his suspension but he had kept up appearances for the psych team and Spencer. It had been a long week; the Monday had been spent finishing the packing up and labelling boxes at the cabin ready for them to be taken into store to join the things from his apartment. He had acted the part for the inquiry, the confident profiler never doubting his profile but he had his doubts and Morgan reminded him of the thin line between confidence and arrogance when you occupied a senior profiler position. He just couldn't face the work anymore; it had destroyed so much of his life that he had to get away before it totally claimed him as one of its victims. In a way he was already a victim, the job had destroyed one marriage, helped to end other tentative friendships and ruined the possibility of another long term relationship in the most brutal manner imaginable…Jason Gideon knew that he was just holding on to his sanity.

Gideon wondered what would happen to the BAU with the financial cuts but whatever unfolded he was sure that Hotch would keep the team together…they were a talented group and Strauss would not break them. He knew Spencer would be all right because he had Jo in his life and she was a steady woman, not the flashy type but she had worked out what she thought was worth fighting for in her world. Gideon smiled to himself, she was quite feisty and had the strength to cope with the absences that came with Spencer's work.

Spencer had grown up since the Clinic. …Gideon thought about all the mistakes he had made when the young genius had returned to them and yet Spencer still had the forgiveness in him to want Gideon to be helped and not punished for those mistakes. Gideon hoped that Spencer would never lose that compassion but the job might destroy it…Perhaps if Jo stayed in his life then she would keep their world together as a fortress against the evil that the sensitive genius would experience in his work. Gideon hoped that would be so…he wanted them to have a happy ending…he wanted to believe in happy endings once more in his world before the encroaching blackness engulfed him forever.

Hayley and Hotch had managed to keep their relationship alive with warmth and understanding. Gideon knew that Spencer observed Hotch and admired his leadership qualities…in fact, they had always worked very well together… 'Yes,' thought Gideon, 'He would not be missed because the working partnership between Hotch and Spencer would keep things on an even keel despite the troubled waters the BAU was sailing in.'

Spencer and Jo had returned to Alexandria armed with the knowledge of 4 properties in the Fairfax Estates portfolio that they could visit tomorrow. It was all arranged that they would collect the keys from the small College Park office in the morning and tour the area and properties as they wished. On the way home, Spencer had told her in more detail about what had happened in the morning and how he had been unsure about her reaction. She shook her head in disbelief but their world was changing and it was being challenged by external influences.

"We ought to look upon this as an adventure," Jo said as they talked over the meal of macaroni cheese and green beans.

"Yeah, you're right," replied Spencer trying to be as positive as this woman opposite him.

"I thought you said that you had worked with Katie Cole before?" said Jo who picked up on his subdued reply.

"Look, none of us like the cases that involve children and this unit only deals with that…mostly paedophiles…kidnapping kids for their own use or others. Trawling the internet for the vulnerable youngster who reveals too much about themselves on chat sites. No matter how much schools warn them, kids always think its never going to happen to them…" Spencer answered remembering the case where he had meet Katie. It had been when Elle had forced her way back in and she had tried to manipulate him with Hotch. "Then there are the divorced parents who use their children as weapons against each other…one parent kidnapping the child and disappearing. We have a very big country to disappear in. There's the child prostitution, child sex tourism, not to mention keeping an eye on those on the national sex offenders register" Spencer tried to explain but could Jo really understand the enormity of it all. She came from a stable family and her brother's marriage was happy and he couldn't see any fault lines that might cause it to split and. He just hoped that he would be able to cope with the issues brought up by the work.

"But its not forever, probably less than a year, and then Max has said that the psych department will still have you back to help with psych evaluations…You will get some respite and then there will be me…" she grinned her black eyes sparkled in the kitchen lights.

He smiled at her re-assurance and knew that he would have been appalled had he not had Jo and might even have considered resigning. Then there was Gideon just going like he did, it was a kind of desertion but the emotional impact had been lessened because he was a stronger person now although Reid had to give Gideon some credit for writing him the letter. However, it didn't prevent the feeling of disappointment that his mentor had abandoned the rest of the team without a word. Spencer thought that his feelings about today were like walking on fine sand, sometimes you felt steady and then suddenly your feet would be struggling to find stability on the shifting fine particles beneath them. Spencer sensed that these stumbling feelings would continue until he actually got to the new placement and started profiling people and where he fitted into the unit.

"I need a lazy bath," Jo suddenly changed the subject.

"Is that a hint that I'm doing the washing-up?"

"I cooked the meal…" and pushed back her chair. Spencer was already reaching for her plate.

Jo ran the water and put in a few drops of the lavender oil, it was very relaxing and she felt she needed this time to think. Jo let the water caress her body and opened up her mind to her troubled thoughts. She had not wanted to show any doubt in front of Spencer but her main concern was about her own ability to be strong enough for him. Since the assault in New York her family had rallied around her and cushioned her against the cruel world. It had only been in the past year that she had been living out of the family home and now she was living in Spencer's apartment. Everyone had been so positive about moving to Maryland, and she had to admit it was the best possible placement outside of Washington DC, but it was still the first time since Sandrine's murder that she would be far away from her family. Jo chided herself and told herself firmly that it was an adventure, a different state and new people to meet and places to explore.

Spencer had looked so tense when he had entered her office earlier and she wondered about what her reaction would have been if he had been sent to the abyss of New York…Jo selfishly admitted to herself that she would not have gone with him if he had been. She knew that a daytime visit was all she could cope with even now, New York still terrified her and brought back the nightmares of her attack and Sandrine's death. It was such a relief when Spencer had said Maryland and he was so sweet because she wanted to be with him. But it would be strange now not to have Spencer in her world and her family thought they were good together and treated him like he was part of their family. Jo sighed, she felt as if she was teetering on the tightrope of life that she was walking along. She loved Spencer but there was a price and that price included coping with his work.

The water was getting cold so she got out and reached for the thick Egyptian cotton crimson towel. This apartment was full of happy memories for both of them.

Jo padded back into the bedroom dressed in her emerald silk robe and saw that the lute was forlornly lying in the middle of the bed but the musician was no where to be seen. She noticed that the door to the first closet was open and went over to close it. Spencer used the first walk-in closet for storing things rather than clothes. She looked inside before closing the door and Jo saw him was just standing there holding a purple silk scarf lost in thought.

"Are you all right?" she finally asked as he seemed to be looking so sad as he gazed upon the cloth.

"Oh Jo!" he flinched in surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump."

"It's all right, this was my father's…My Mom hated it but my Dad loved this scarf and he took it with him when he left but it got sent to me by one of his colleagues when I was at Quantico. The guy was retiring and found he'd several things that had belonged to my father and wondered if I would like them. I used to wear it but after the Clinic, I tried to get my feelings for my Dad in a better perspective. I guess it was the fact that I had nothing from Dad after he left and then he was dead…" the young man rambled, fumbling to find the right words for the complex emotions that surrounded his memories of his parents. "You know it was all so final and I did love him even if he did leave me. I have some early memories of doing things with him that were happy…but when he left I had to cope with Mom and those good memories got pushed aside because I had to deal with the problems of day to day living with a sick mother and bullying at school. Jeez…I just wish it had not been the Crimes Against Children Unit," he confessed because he knew that was at the bottom of all this introspection and the need to touch the scarf and remember his father's love and his weakness….

Jo knew about the scarf and had heard about some of those early memories but they had been recalled in happier moments when they were exchanging tales of growing up. She always thought that because he seemed to like being with Craig's children that whatever had happened to Spencer as a child had not put him off children altogether. Spencer always said that he had little experience with children but he had only to reveal his magic tricks and he had a captivated audience. But the best part about Spencer was that he always seemed to have time to listen to children. Lydia and their other friends' children adored him and the key to all of this was that children loved to be listened to by an adult and they picked up on his inherent gentleness.

"What else was sent to you?" Jo asked gently knowing that Spencer rarely spoke about his father and he treasured the few things he did have that his father had once owned.

"There were some notebooks and an occasional journal, the journal is more than a diary and he refers to letters and cards sent to me that I never received so my Mom obviously intercepted them. He seemed very sad that he never heard from me and asked his lawyer to find out how I was doing at school but Vernon wasn't the most conscientious or sensitive man." Spencer shrugged, "Perhaps I'm doing Vernon an injustice because I'm sure it must have been difficult dealing with Mom, even the Mental Health professionals could find her trying on her good days. I suppose I coped because I learnt strategies to live with her and read her moods well but to an out- sider, especially like Vernon who was a lawyer and not a doctor or nurse, Diana Reid was to be avoided as much as possible.

Dad lived with a colleague and somethings were not sent back to Nevada after his death. The things from his college room were packed up and sent but because my parents were not divorced…these things were sent to his home address and of course my Mom destroyed things before I got the chance to see them. I had just started my first degree when he was killed and living most of the week with the Bishops. It was only because I wrote a thank you letter and told his colleague how much I treasured the scarf that other things began to surface over twelve years after Dad's death. I keep things in this chest I found in the attic when I was clearing the house for sale after Mom entered Bennington, the money went towards her care."

"Why don't you bring it out into the bedroom and you can show me…" Jo invited hoping that he would share this part of his life with her and by doing so would find some comfort in the remembrance.

"Yeah, all right," Spencer said, draping the purple scarf over his arm and picked up the oak box with fancy brass side handles, hinges and a large brass key in the lock. Spencer carried it over to the bed and placed it on the floor. He opened the lid and Jo could see that the box obviously contained personal 'treasures' of his life so far with letters and folders marked University of Las Vegas, Harvard and Princeton. These folders he took out and placed them on the bed and then reached down to pick up a leather bound 'A4' sized book about an inch thick and placed it on his lap, running his long sensitive fingers over the dark green leather.

"This is hand-written, my Dad had a small, precise and very clear way of forming his letters…not like my scrawl," he said softly and opened the book reverently as if this breathed with the dead man's thoughts.

Jo was surprised to find a neatly written page in black ink, a fountain pen had been used not a ball point and each entry began with the date; the day first. followed by the numeral, then the month and finally the year. It was the discipline of a diarist but contained personal thoughts and reminiscences rather like talking to an internal friend.

…**It is now six months since I left Nevada and I have had no response to my letters or gifts sent to Spencer, perhaps I should send such things by Vernon but I don't want to trouble him further with my family problems. Vernon has made sure that there is enough money invested to pay the utilities and keep Diana's account topped up. Vernon has informed me that Spencer is progressing well at school and I am not to worry about my son, as he seems to be copying very well with the situation at home.**

**My research collaboration here is going well and I have received invitations to visit other departments in Sweden, Germany and France during the coming academic year. Brian says that once I've completed my teaching commitments here I can take off to see these colleagues. I find the inter-action with these fellow mathematicians mentally stimulating in a way that was lacking in Nevada. That sounds very selfish and if I'm honest it is. The situation at home was stifling my creativity. Diana's illness meant that I could not entertain colleagues at home nor take up invites extended to me. It became socially isolating to be Diana's husband. Diana's refusal to comply with her doctor and take the necessary medication just got to a point that I thought I would hit her out of sheer frustration because you cannot reason with her when she becomes intransigent.**

"Did your Dad ever hit her?" Jo asked concerned at these deeply personal thoughts.

"No, I never knew him to hit anyone. Dad was not a confrontational person and usually would go to his study and play his violin rather than have a shouting match with Mom. Mom saw this as weakness but it can also be seen as someone who knew it wasn't worth the effort of upsetting the atmosphere of the home when quarrelling just might have made Mom's reaction even more difficult. They did some times have arguments probably because Dad had repressed too much of his feelings. There are a lot of entries which reveal that he still loved my Mom…Look I'll show you," said Spencer and he turned the pages looking for a specific date, "Here," and he passed the book over to Jo.

**Today is Diana's birthday. I hope that she is well and having a happy time. I'm sure that Spencer will try and make it a good day for her. The first time I saw Diana she was looking radiant with flowing golden hair almost to her waist and wearing a white cotton dress. It was Diana's twenty-second birthday. Her tall lithe beauty turned heads and she knew it but this woman had the confidence to ignore the men who glazed on her. I didn't follow her retinue and was therefore different and a challenge. We were both known for our areas of study at Berkeley and normally our paths would not have crossed but the Head of Library services persuaded both of us to sit on the library users board as post-graduate student representatives. Diana possessed one of the most sensitive and lively minds I'd ever met and she was funny and cultured and very easy to talk to. She overlooked my shyness and patiently listened to my ideas about medieval music, poetry and art and then smiled and I was lost. She could bewitch with that smile. Spencer has her smile but thankfully more of my steady temperament.**

**Of course I was totally lost and it was only later that I discovered about her experimenting with drugs, but at least I persuaded her to let me take her to a clinic to get her detoxed before it ruined her chances of employment.**

**It all came back to haunt us; this schizophrenia may have its origins in her drug taking. I hope that Spencer will have the strength and good sense not to be drawn into the drug scene that is on most campuses these days. He will be 12 soon and nearing the end of High School. Vernon tells me that arrangements are already being made so he can study mathematics at Las Vegas where I'm sure my former colleagues will keep an eye on him.**

**Well, Dearest Diana, have a happy birthday. I have not sent you anything because I'm certain you'd throw it in the trash but I still love you, so I send you my loving thoughts knowing that together we were destroying each other rather than enhancing each others existence. I hope you are not as lonely as I feel, you have our son to keep you company. Although you told me to take him…You do not know how much I wanted to but where would he have fitted into my existence here, living in one room in a colleagues home so that I can keep your bank account healthy. I love our son and hope he will understand one day and that he will not hate me when I return.**

**Enough of my painful thoughts, this should be a happy entry because it is my beloved Diana's fortieth birthday and there should be happier times to be remembered today.**

"Four months later he was dead. I was so surprised to be sent this journal a couple of years ago. When I read the entries I can hear my Dad's voice reading the words in my mind," Spencer said softly, "I have some letters from people who knew him and they all recall instances of their friendship with him. Several have invited me to call on them if I ever go to England…"

"Then we'll go next year as our vacation," Jo said firmly, seizing the moment to dispel his negative mood. "Are they still in the Cambridge area?"

"No, a couple are but one lives in a place called Winchester, another Bath and I think the old head of the department moved to Normandy."

"Oh wonderful, we can take the Eurostar…you'll like going through the Channel Tunnel it's very fast and comfortable," she assured and Spencer caught her enthusiastic mood."

"Would you like to see some of the letters I've been sent?"

"Yes, your father must have been much treasured as a friend for his colleagues to have taken the time to write and to preserve things that reminded them of their friendship. You should go and talk to them before its too late. You know travelling to Italy and seeing that side of my family was very special and I met great aunts and saw old photographs and it was wonderful. I felt close to my Grandmother again by hearing about early her life and the family in the old land!"

Spencer nodded and felt his unease at the thought of change begin to settle down for the night. He found a couple of letters and passed them over for Jo to read while he placed the precious journal back in the chest. Spencer thought the suggestion of making plans to see these people was a good idea and he'd write a few little notes, to put inside the Christmas cards he intended to send, with the news of a possible visit next year. He reached over for his lute and began to play a selection of his favourite Dowland and he couldn't stop the thoughts that bubbled up questioning just what had Diana destroyed while he was not at home. It was obvious that these very personal things had been withheld and not sent home by these colleagues because of their suspicions about her controlling actions and the effects of the illness.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…Please not again…Please forgive me…"

"Spencer!" she demanded, firmly shaking him by the shoulders but he seemed lost in the nightmare world of Hankel again. She had thought that these nightmares had totally receded into the background, but this time of change and uncertainty had brought them forth from deep within his subconscious as a reminder of that time of fear. He was in a cold sweat and totally in the thrall of the memory.

"Spencer!" she tried again, but he was trying to push her away from him. She reached over and put on the lamp and then squeezed his bony shoulders as hard as she could.

The man beneath her hands went still, rigid and she wondered what horror he was reliving as he seemed to be holding his breath and then his eyes shot open and unseeingly stared at her. Jo held her own breath and could hear her heart thumping away in her chest. The brown eyes slowly became alert and looked at her in bewilderment and his hands reached up to touch her arms as if to test that she was real.

"Jo…Oh God, I've not had a nightmare like that for weeks…I was back in the cabin with Hankel and he was hitting me and finally put his gun to my head…Sorry Jo…" he shook his head to clear his mind of the residue of the images.

"It's all right, you've just had a distressing time recently…its probably because you're feeling vulnerable about your place in the Bureau," Jo said softly rationalising it for both of them.

"Yeah…You're a pretty good psychologist you know," he said feeling his heart slowing down to a more natural rhythm.

Jo reached up and stroked his hair, soothing him as she would have done a distressed child who had woken with a nightmare, "It's all right, I know they can come back when we feel under stress and vulnerable…I still have the odd nightmare even now…"

"What? Since we've been together?" he asked with concern.

"No, but the first few weeks I lived in my Alexandria apartment…It was such a big step to live away from the very secure home with my family. I'm all right now and have been since being with you and I don't get nightmares while you're away," she re-assured and it was true, she felt very safe with Spencer.

Spencer reached for her and cuddled her to him, "It's been a difficult couple of days, what with Gideon taking off and then the BAU yesterday…" he conceded.

"But we're still together," Jo reminded him and Spencer hugged her for her comforting words and hoped that he was going to be strong enough to cope with the challenge of the CACU. But at the back of his mind was the feeling of foreboding that was darkly looming ready to pounce and shatter his happy private world.

The End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

The Interregnum: Chapter 2

by Helena Fallon

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Spencer Reid arrived at the College Park complex well before 10 a. m. to allow himself over an hour to go through the formal transfer procedure which included being allocated a new locker, registering his firearm, which had been issued at Quantico, a new ID badge aswell as filling in forms for next of kin and present address. The admin staff who dealt with him were very welcoming and had been expecting him so things went very smoothly and filled in the time before actually going to the Crimes Against Children Unit.

He went to the locker room to hang up his heavy overcoat he was wearing over his grey wool jacket. Spencer had needed the black overcoat today as winter had finally kicked in with a bitterly cold northern wind. The autumn had been unusually mild and this sudden cold blast reminded people that it was the first week in December. There was also his 'emergency' bag that contained clean clothes and toiletries that he placed into his locker and Spencer absently wondered what his BAU colleagues would be doing today. Reid cast an eye over his appearance in the full length mirror by the locker room door before going on to the CACU. The young agent was satisfied that he looked neat and tidy with his charcoal dress pants, sage green shirt, darker green tie and black sleeveless cashmere wool vest under his grey jacket. He had even had his hair cut and re-styled at the weekend and although not short he had deliberately had the curls cut off. Unfortunately, his hair had the tendency to curl the longer it grew and he didn't want to look like the undergraduate here so he now had a more sober cut with a parting slightly to the right. However, it was still longer than his male colleagues at Quantico and looked thick and glossy as it just graced his ears. Jo had said that he looked very much the young professor when he put on his new gold rimmed spectacles. However, today he was wearing his contact lenses, a decision that he had regretted when he had got out of his car on arrival as the gusty wind blew grit into his left eye. He had fought the urge to rub the eye knowing that he could make things worse and had put his head down and briskly made his way towards the main building, one hand holding his large holdall and his other in his coat pocket. It had hurt like hell and his eye was watering with the body's natural attempts to rid itself of the foreign body by the time he reached the main reception. The receptionist was very sympathetic, as she wore contacts herself, and had just pointed him towards the haven of the men's room after he had used his BAU badge to identify himself.

The CACU was predominantly female but a hive of activity and he was not noticed when he first walked through the glass doors. The Black American receptionist was on the phone but smiled a greeting and signalled mouthing silently that she would be with him in a minute. Spencer judged her to be late 20's or perhaps early 30's and she had a friendly manner. He was transfixed for several moments by her shocking pink fingernails that also had tiny ruby coloured gems decorating them. Her hair was a shock of tight curls and she wore large red metallic looking circles as drop earrings that accentuated her long neck and high cheekbones.

"No…that's fine, I'll see that Amanda signs for it personally. Thank you…Have a nice day," she finished and replaced the receiver.

"Sorry, Can I help?"

"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, I'm here to see Dr. Cole."

"Spencer!" a voice hailed him from the inner sanctum of the bullpen and Katie Cole herself suddenly strode out towards him with a big smile and her hand proffered for a firm handshake.

"Dee, Spencer is joining us to cover for Danielle's maternity leave," she informed the receptionist who smiled at him again.

"Oh good we don't have many men here," she greeted him enthusiastically and eyed his left hand for a ring.

"Dee! Don't you dare frighten him away before I even get him to my office…Besides, I'm sure Spencer is spoken for…"

"Oh Yes…I am," he replied thankful that he could honestly say he had a partner.

"Oh, has your partner moved with you?" Dee asked and Spencer felt that he'd put a stop to any flirting by being very open.

"Yes, Jo works for Fairfax Estates so we looked at property over the weekend and is organising our move here from the Washington office but she will be back in this area this afternoon."

"Really, you'll have to call her and have her drop by so we can all meet her," Katie said pleased that this young man had not come alone. Dee shrugged but kept her sunny disposition and Spencer knew that he had met the woman who would know all the gossip in the building from the janitor up. He followed Katie to her office and closed the door.

"Help yourself to coffee," she invited and he noticed she had a plain white mug of half drunk muddy liquid on her desk. No doubt security rang her when he had left the admin office and began the trek, via the locker room, to this floor.

The office was cluttered, white walls were hardly visible because of the shelving that held books and folders and seven tall battleship grey filing cabinets stood along one wall. On top of two of these cabinets were a couple of pots of flowering cacti and a bonsai which looked like a miniature oak. She had no diplomas on the walls nor photographs that would give any clue to the person who occupied this space. It was a working space and her private life didn't belong here but she was not unfriendly and everyone here called her Katie but it was obviously her way of keeping work and leisure separate.

Spencer went and sat in the easy chair opposite her desk. His new boss had resumed her seat behind her desk and had picked up her own mug. Spencer noted the defensive gesture and knew that the 'friendliness' was a very professional act with her staff.

"I must admit that I'm very pleased to have got you to cover for Danielle but I understand that a lot has happened to you since we worked on the 'Peter' case," she began and Spencer was alert for her next lot of probing questions.

"Yes, I had a spell at the Clinic after being kidnapped and tortured by an Unsub," he freely admitted.

"How do you feel about that time now?"

"At the time it was distressing but I think I have come through the experience more aware of myself and I faced some things in my past that I'd been avoiding. The best thing to have happened was that during the sick leave was the time I met and consolidated my relationship with Jo…She's the sister of a friend but we had never actually met until April and she's very central to my life now."

Katie smiled with genuine warmth, "I'm very pleased for you because we prefer people who have strong relationships because this job is emotionally demanding. I'm sorry about Dee…she's incorrigible!"

Spencer smiled and thought fondly of Garcia, he was going to miss Penelope's crazy friendship because Dee was not a Garcia.

"It says here that you are having extra random drug tests, but you don't go to meetings?"

"Why should I?" Spencer said and watched her look surprised at his challenge.

"Usually dilaudid is highly addictive and support meetings can help with the cravings," she quickly countered.

"But I didn't take the drug willingly, it was given to me while I was bound and with my background experimenting with drugs, even at college, was not an attraction," he replied with a forcefulness that lead to Katie raising a questioning eyebrow.

"My mother has schizophrenia, there was no history of the disorder in her family but she had been a willing participant of the Berkeley drug scene in her youth and the doctors believe that there could be a connection. Add to that, I was her carer from the age of 10 and saw how powerful drugs were…if she didn't take her medication she was in another world and the reaction to the medication was very dramatic. I like to keep control of my mind. That is what I found really distressing with the kidnap, I had no control over being given dilaudid and of course the effects were an escape from the captivity but it was a false escape. I don't drink excessively either, in fact I don't go to bars often. If I did go to a bar with the team I would usually just have a coke or soft drink…My mind is unique and I don't want to destroy it," he replied seriously and Katie thought that the youthful looking man seemed to be transformed before her eyes. This was a mature agent and not the one she had met over a year ago who had seemed in the aggressive woman agent's shadow.

But then he was speaking again and Katie listened re-evaluating the agent before her.

"I don't mind the extra testing, it proves to the Bureau that I'm clean and therefore I don't see the need to attend meetings. I went through de-tox at the hospital in Georgia and the craving were there at first in the Clinic…There was no way that I was going to be given access to drugs after detox and I was still recovering from the physical injuries. The time at the Clinic at first dealt with the physical healing and that included counselling for the dilaudid cravings which were there at first but they receded then came the hardest part…the psychological healing. Now that started some weeks after and I even ended up with three of the best Mental Health services staff at Quantico, including Max Pentall himself. They were superb, they saw through me and helped me see my strengths and a way back to my normality."

"Your normality?" she asked fascinated by this unexpected openness.

"I'm a genius, my sense of 'normality' varies a little from the other people around me…and that is not to imply superiority on my part. It's just that I have very broad interests, my thinking is fast and divergent, very creative at times, and I can easily get bored with the mundane so I have mental games to play with myself when the day job is having a 'slow time'…do you understand?"

Katie nodded and began to realise that she had not anticipated this. Knowing someone is a genius and then having them come to work with you was very different to the few very rare children, she had met over the years as a child psychologist, who had genuinely been assessed as a genius rather than just of high intelligence. She stared at the sensitive large brown eyes and the young face with sensual lips and golden brown hair. He was very attractive despite his gangling figure and hoped that he was not a 'Casanova' with those looks but she had not heard those sorts of rumours about him.

"It was your contributions to the successes that the BAU have had that I wanted to employ here. We need someone with a fresh view of things. I think sometimes that we sense that there are connections that we are missing because we have been looking at the problem for too long and can't see the wood for the trees. So we need your new eyes and new thinking. The pay off is the experience of being a deputy and the admin that accompanies it but I understand that you're already been doing the group dynamics reports for the BAU so you're half way there. Taking you away from the BAU will make it easier for you to return at a more senior level…and that is the plan of the Bureau so I hope you will make the most of the opportunities here to learn all you can about management. You have the psychology but now the hardest part is to put it into practice and with these women…You handled Dee well, I mean it, ring your Jo so we can all meet her and the women will instantly settle down when they see a working relationship. The men here are all married with families and actually most of the women are in relationships, some are married, and there are those with children. Dee has twins but her partner left her for a younger version…He likes them under 20! Dee has an on-off relationship with a chef called Harry," Katie confided.

"Danielle has been my deputy for two years now and before that she worked with Josh Kramer in his Organised Crime Unit on intelligence…she has a good mind for sifting through data and her organisational skills are very good. We don't have many men here because of the obvious reason that most of the children are abducted and abused by men. I'm sure you noticed how people stopped to listened to your reply to Dee, especially when you said Jo…I knew that you were not homosexual because Max is too sensitive to the nature of this work to have done that to this unit."

"That's a shame, being homosexual does not make you a paedophile," replied Spencer in defence of the men who may be good agents but keep their sexual orientation quiet.

"We know that but the media would jump on it and of course many parents just have a general fear of paedophiles…quite rightly, but they automatically see homosexual as different and therefore dangerous. No matter how often you try to explain that a homosexual is sexually attracted to men not children it still doesn't get taken on board. But then some religious groups see homosexuals as deviant to Gods' laws. Just as long as you understand that it is a sensitive issue here, not because of personal intolerance within this unit but due to the problems of how the wider world views our work," Katie explained and wanted this sensitive young man to get his girlfriend there to dispel any thoughts on the matter. It was always a problem with sensitive sweet looking men, there would always be some people who would assume that they were gay. It was all nonsense but old wives tales still existed.

Katie continued, "The men here are very good on the internet pornography and Tony is the expert on tracking paedophiles and all things to do with the sex offenders national register. He's in court today, and possibly tomorrow, but the guys were pleased that they were going to have another man around… I think they feel a little out numbered in the bullpen," she said with a smile and Spencer thought she was trying her best to be welcoming but he sensed her need to know the people in this unit and by knowing them she felt more in control.

"By the way, how is Gideon these days?" she suddenly changed direction.

"He's recently resigned and we think he's gone to see his son," Spencer replied neutrally and wondered just how much Max and Quantico had told her…or was she just testing his reaction to the changes?

"Oh…my! It's all change for the BAU then. We all heard about the appointment of Hotch to the Director's Special Team but I guess we all thought Gideon would be holding the fort again back at Quantico in his absence."

"Gideon's resignation was very recent, it was delivered last Friday, so I doubt it has been put on the internal general bulletin site with all the other changes that have been going on since then."

Katie nodded and wondered if Reid would be pulled back to replace Gideon but then dismissed the thought as they would have stopped his transfer before today and besides, she re-assured herself, he was being sent to her to train him up for senior agent responsibilities.

"You want me to ring Jo now?" he asked sensing the importance of this act and it would deflect her from asking any awkward questions about Gideon.

"Would you while I go and find Danielle?" Katie asked softly not wanting to make it an order. But the agent before her smiled and looked impossibly young and it made her feel old…she was old enough to be his mother.

He took his cell out of his trouser pocket, "No problem, Jo will be more than happy to oblige…She's never been to the BAU so this will be an experience, her first visit to a FBI unit!"

Katie moved to the door and smiled leaving him to invite his partner. She quickly found Danielle in her office checking the paperwork for a recent successful case. She looked up at Katie's arrival.

"I hear Spencer Reid survived his first encounter with Dee," her dark eyes twinkled with mischief.

"I've left him calling his girlfriend…once the unit has met her it will settle down."

"You sure it's a good relationship?" the milky brown African-American asked.

"I don't think Max would have backed my request if he'd not had a stable home life. He's not like I remember, he's matured a lot since he was last here but then a lot has happened to him."

"You've not frightened him off yet anyway," Danielle said, "He's very young but the BAU is no easy ride as you know."

"Yeah and he was Gideon's protégé but he's shown acumen for the work and his Doctorate in Criminal Psychology was the thing that originally swayed the interview board when he applied. So far he has shown considerable potential and rumours are rife that he has the ability to be Gideon's successor."

"That's a lot to have on a person's shoulders," Danielle replied thoughtfully, "Is it time for me to meet the genius…I've never met a genius before."

"Oh this one is very sweet natured on the surface but he's got a backbone of steel beneath his boyish appearance," Katie answered her deputy and they exchanged knowing looks. You couldn't be weak in this department or you would go under very quickly and they considered themselves to be one of the hardest, alongside the BAU, to work in effectively for any length of time.

They walked back together to her office and found Spencer quietly awaiting their return, he rose to greet Danielle and Katie made the formal introductions.

"Is your Jo coming to join us this afternoon?" Danielle asked before Katie.

Spencer flashed her a warm smile, "Oh she jumped at the chance. At the moment she's organising the furniture, she has brought the stuff over from her apartment…When she moved in with me she kept her much smaller apartment as an office and a safety net in case it didn't work."

The two women nodded in understanding.

"So you've found something already?" Katie asked.

"I told you she works for Fairfax Estates…It was no problem, I've kept my apartment in Alexandria so I really let her choose the place here, but you'll be able to ask her yourselves this afternoon. Jo thinks she'll be here around 3 o'clock if that's all right?"

"Perfect," replied Katie and knew that the bullpen would be anticipating the arrival.

"Well if you are not going to be frantically apartment hunting then you can get to work here and into a routine sooner than we thought," Danielle said with some enthusiasm, "Not that we're slave drivers but we usually give new agents a lot of time in their first week to get the accommodation sorted out but you seem to be eager to get stuck in."

"Well, I guess the sooner I get started the sooner I learn the ropes and don't upset the smooth running of the unit."

Danielle nodded and Katie thought that this man had terrific potential and he and Danielle had already slipped into an easy working relationship and she was already telling him about her plans for his first day with her…

"Go on get out of here I've got work to do!" Katie dismissed them but was pleased to see the two tall figures leave happily together. But she wondered what had happened for Gideon to resign? She had always thought him the type to keep working as long as he could and he had not reached retirement age. Katie pushed the questions to the back of her mind for another time when Spencer was more settled and perhaps he would reveal a lot more about the real reason for his mentor's departure.

The rest of the day seemed to pass very quickly being introduced to new faces and he noticed how many wore wedding rings or referred to partners and found out that more than half the people in the unit had children themselves. Danielle filled him in on the cases they were working at that time. They were hoping to move against a private club soon where they suspected under-age girls were being used for entertainment and possibly prostitution. This case had become the top priority because of the data gathering over the previous months and had been handled very carefully so as not to frighten off the perpetrators or the club would suddenly close and disappear. They had an undercover agent working the case after a tip off from the Philadelphia office, who had raided a similar joint and that had thrown up another name in their area who appeared to have initially a clean record. However, this man, a Brian Rankin, had some questionable associates and he had money invested in a couple of ventures, one a bar in Annapolis and the other a disco venue in Baltimore, which the DEA were keeping an eye on but had nothing concrete against the management.

At lunchtime, Danielle and Katie took him down to the cafeteria and they were enjoying quiche salads and coffee although Danielle was being virtuous with her orange juice. No one talked about the caseload because it was a time to get to know each other. Katie revealed that she was a doting 'Auntie' to four nephews ranging from 6 to 14 years. Danielle talked about her husband who was lecturer in law at the university and his mother lived with them and helped with childcare. It was a happy relationship for all concerned because both were only children and Danielle's parents had both died before her son was born.

"Ah, Dr. Reid," a voice said and they all looked round to face an older well groomed man with grey thinning hair and neatly trimmed grey beard. This neat man of meduim build laughed showing well cared for teeth and he had china blue eyes that had a penetrating look.

"Goodness Adam!" protested Katie in mock shock; you just have to stop creeping around. Spencer this is Adam Priest, he's in charge of the outpost here."

"Just call me Adam, everyone else does," he said proffering his hand which Reid shook firmly, if briefly, and thought that he had shook quite a few hands recently but everyone here seemed to like that formal greeting at first. "I like the 'outpost' tag, Katie, anyone would think we're in the wilds of Dakota." He sat down on the vacant chair at their table.

"I don't want people to hear too much about how nice it is here or we'll attract the riff-raff from New York…you know what that place is like!" Katie replied mischievously.

Adam shook his head in amusement, and turned his attention to Spencer.

"I'm sorry I was busy when you first arrived at 8:30, but I liked how you sorted out the usual admin procedures before going up to see Katie," he said, "I usually like to see people as they turn up but with all the changes, due to the cuts, things are a bit hectic and we're still adjusting ourselves to the numbers of civilian staff we've lost. We consider getting you quite a coup especially as New York were angling for you," Adam explained.

"Really! Well actually I wouldn't have gone because my partner was attacked in New York and isn't comfortable in that city any more," Spencer replied firmly and Adam's eyes bore into him and he held Spencer's steady gaze for a few seconds before Adam nodded in understanding.

"The lady is all right otherwise?" he asked with concern.

"Oh yes, it happened over 4 years ago now but her friend was murdered in the apartment they shared and she disturbed the murderer who then attacked her. Jo had the best counselling care afterwards and has a very supportive family. We've been to the art galleries there on the day shuttle but we leave before nightfall. She's Judge Alan Petersen's daughter…" he added knowing that this man would probably want to satisfy his curiosity over the case.

"Virginian Supreme Court?" he asked softly and Spencer nodded. Adam noticed that the two women looked surprised at the name-dropping.

"Sorry, but you have a tough assignment and we hoped that you would have a steady background," added Adam honestly but he liked this agent's understanding of the subtext. Priest had heard a lot about the genius under Gideon's wing and he was beginning to see for himself that he was indeed an able agent.

"I have, she's calling in this afternoon around three so if you're around…" Spencer invited feeling that he was surprising himself at his openness with these people. However, Reid realised that they needed to know that he was strong enough to cope with this placement, not just on paper but in the reality of day to day living and working.

Adam chuckled, "Oh a very wise move with the CACU's resident Man-eater! I'll try to drop by for a few minutes to say hello but she'll come to the usual Christmas get together won't she? We usually have our partners come and it's only for a couple of hours at the end of the normal day shift but everyone is quite friendly here."

"I'm sure that Jo will try to make it, she had planned to be at the Quantico one before things changed so I don't think there will be a problem."

"That's good…" his cell sounded and he looked at the text message, "Sorry I've got to go…But glad you're here and I'll be seeing you around no doubt."

They watched him walk briskly from the cafeteria.

"Adam's a good man. We thought we might loose him because he's 60 in a couple of months. But he really backs us when we need it," said Katie thoughtfully, "That was a smart move to be open about your Jo with him…I know that you're normally more reserved and you're making a special effort with us, I... we appreciate that…"

Spencer felt a twinge of embarrassment that she had seen through him but he had to hit the ground running and he didn't want the baggage of Quantico weighing him down. He was here on his own and could play it his way right from the start. Spencer looked up and saw the smiling friendly and encouraging faces of both women and gave them a shy smile back.

Spencer liked Danielle, the last time he had been here she had been in court and Amanda Gilroy had dealt with them. Amanda remembered him and they had chatted earlier, and she had even asked about the female agent who had been with him back then. So he had said that Elle had resigned a few months after her return from sick leave and she had nodded sensing that he would rather not fill in anymore details. Spencer sensed that with Danielle you got straight answers to questions and she didn't like secrets when it came to the running of the unit. Her open and honest approach with her colleagues was respected and because of it she kept in check any female rivalries that sometimes surfaced with groups of women. He was still weighing up Katie as a boss, she was a much more complex character but he had time to observe because he had been warned that he had a lot of admin procedure to learn.

The afternoon was spent getting to know the men in the unit and they ranged in age from 32 to almost 53. They were a talented and committed group of men who were experts on the use of the internet and how it has been hijacked by paedophiles for their own ends. Carl, the oldest was an American with a Japanese grandmother and had inherited the small, square powerful looking physique of the Japanese genes. His once black hair was now peppered with grey but it was still thick and abundant and cut short in a way that reminded Reid of Hotch. Carl and his wife, Patricia, had a son who was studying at Georgetown and a daughter hoping to go to John Hopkins to study pre-medical courses.

Chris was the youngest and had only been with them since February. He had recently become a father and proudly decorated his desk with the latest photographs of the 5 week old son who was called Ethan. The redheaded and freckled Chris had moved from Dallas after a spell in white-collar crime where he had honed his computing skills. He had become interested in the CACU after stumbling across an under-age prostitution racket during what on the surface looked like a straight forward case of credit card fraud.

Mike and Rick were both just turned 40 and experienced agents. Mike was from New Hampshire, and was happily married to Janet. They had two children, a son of 8 and a girl of 11. He had the physique of a lean basket ball player and confessed that had been a dream in his adolescent years until he realised that he had better start studying because he wasn't going to get the Sports scholarship and earn his living on the circuit with a fat pay cheque. Mike had settled down in his last 18 months at school and got good enough results to gain a place at Stanford and followed his interests in the sciences and geography.

Rick came from Arizona, he was of Latino descent and really called Ricardo but he hated his name. He was darkly handsome, a neat man of medium build, who was by his own admission a passionate modern ballroom dancer. Rick was married to a dental nurse, Claudia, who shared his past time and they had three children, two boys, aged 3 and 7, and a girl of 5. The absent Tony was alluded to and Spencer could see from his empty desk that he too was a family man with three sons, staring out from a photograph, and a picture of a blond woman with short hair was in a silver frame.

"That was Tony's wife, Gina, she died from breast cancer 18 months ago, it was in her family…Gina's mother and sister died from it too. The boys are 12, 14 and 17 and a credit to their parents. Tony's unmarried sister, Bridget, moved here from Connecticut to care for Gina and the boys and stayed. She works as a nurse at the local hospital, but works in a specialist clinic so she only does normal daytime hours to be home with the boys as much as she can," explained Carl.

Spencer nodded and sensed a strong bond of support for each other among these men.

"So your lady is going to drop by this afternoon?" Rick asked enthusiastically, "We'll have to listen and watch carefully, you understand…it's our ladies back home they'll want to know the details…You know women…they like all those little details…"

Spencer chuckled, "Well, it's the little things that women notice so much about their own sex…and lets face it …we may love them but there is still an element of mystery about the fairer sex," he confided and the men nodded their agreement. This small group of men shared a moment of male bonding, something that Reid had never really felt back at the BAU. Morgan had been far too fickle with his relationships, but Spencer hoped that he was treating Angela well. Hotch obviously adored his Hayley but he was not the sort of person to suddenly open up about their marriage to the youngest agent on the team. Gideon, his mentor, enjoyed female company but had still kept his off duty liaisons private. But then Spencer also had to admit to himself that he had deliberately kept his private life out of the BAU for as long as possible. Here it was essential that his co-workers could trust him because of the nature of some of the crimes they touched upon.

"I'll make sure to introduce Jo to you all. I'll admit that I would not have been prepared to take this placement if she had not been with me…Let's face it… you need to have someone to go home to after a day here."

"Yeah," agreed Rick while the other men again nodded their agreement, "But your Jo has come with you so it will make it bearable."

"Your Jo's going to come to the Christmas get together here, isn't she?" asked Chris, "I mean my Faye is really looking forward to it."

"I hope so, she was planning to go to the Quantico one so I don't see why not. But you can ask her yourselves…stress how much your wives will be looking forward to meeting her…I'm sure she will get the impression that she will be missed if she doesn't come!"

A young male agent, who Spencer had seen at the main reception desk that morning, escorted Jo to the unit. It was a little after 3 o'clock and Katie and Danielle made a beeline for her. Jo was talkative about the small house they were renting in Berwyn Heights and the things that she had arranged to be brought over that day from Alexandria.

"I packed things up yesterday, there wasn't that much because we're just using things from my old apartment to start with. Uncle Jeff got the team together so they just had to collect things and then drove them over. It all helps being family," she said in answer to the surprised looks.

"So what do you do at Fairfax Estates?" asked Dee who was interested in this very feminine woman with the badly scarred left hand.

"I'm the interior designer…so my aunt and uncle were delighted that Spencer was not moved too far from the Washington office…"

"You're Joanna Petersen!" asked Amanda in surprise.

"Yes, the Bevan's only niece. I've worked for them a long time, in fact even before I went away to study."

"You know, I've lived in two Fairfax apartments and I always wondered who thought out the interiors…It's a real pleasure to meet you, Spencer didn't say of course…."

Jo smiled, "Well I just work like everyone else and just because it's a family business doesn't mean that I don't have to pull my weight…and there's a lot more to interior design than just dressing a room…"

The details of who Jo was and her work were quickly digested and they got on to discussing family and children in particular. Suddenly she had brought out her photographs of Ben and Lydia and these were pounced upon. Spencer let the women interact without him as he slipped to the sidelines to observe. He knew why Katie had wanted Jo here and Jo was playing her part to perfection right down to the photographs…

"Oh look…and Spencer says he doesn't have much experience with children…Look at this Katie," Danielle beamed to her boss holding out the small photo album.

Katie went over and was shown a photograph taken a few months before of Spencer holding Ben while reading a book to Lydia as they sat together on a couch at their grandparents. On the back of the couch sat a sandy coloured tabby cat that appeared to be looking at the book from above Spencer's left shoulder while a black labrador had it's large head resting on his feet.

Katie smiled at the image, and Danielle gave a slight nod of satisfaction, this man would be fine with children. Danielle personally thought that children would probably sense his innate gentleness and see him as like a big brother because he just seemed so unthreatening.

Spencer kept his word and introduced Jo to his minority group of males and she happily talked with them about their wives and families and said that she was looking forward to Christmas and would make sure that the date was free in her diary. Spencer Reid marvelled again at how Jo mixed so easily with people, just like her parents and had that gift of remembering people's faces and the little personal things they revealed about themselves. Jo used the skill in her work when she met clients, who wanted her to design their living space for them, and she listened carefully to their likes and dislikes and their interests to give her ideas to make them a home not just a living space. Spencer admired Jo's ease with such gatherings and knew that some of her confidence had rubbed off on him since meeting her and he always felt confident at social events with her. Part of his brain thought that his BAU colleagues would have been amazed at his performance today. Reid knew that he had not been as awkward as he had been when last here and he had certainly made the effort to be chatty to all the staff that he had to supervise in Katie's absence.

At 5:30 the day shift came to an end and people began to make their way home. The young couple left together with Spencer saying that he'd try to work normal hours tomorrow to get into the routine as quickly as possible.

"They're very sweet together," said Dee after they had passed through the department doors.

"Did you see those defence wounds?" Melanie blurted out, "Jo said that she disturbed the murderer of her friend and he attacked her…"

"She's pretty well balanced considering that happened to her," Amanda added.

"Did you notice how Spencer held her damaged hand when they left…It looked so natural and not put on for our benefit," Lindsay said and looked towards Danielle and Katie to judge their reactions.

"They make a nice couple," Katie pronounced and turned to go back to her office.

Danielle grinned at everyone and the bullpen felt satisfied that the newest member of the unit would fit in.

Danielle slipped in to see Katie.

"Jo's special," Danielle said to Katie as she looked up to accept the files her deputy had brought with her.

"Yes, interesting that he didn't tell us exactly what she did when we first spoke this morning, but he told Adam whose daughter she was," Katie remarked thoughtfully.

"Katie! I don't think there is anything very sinister in that. I just think Spencer is normally very private about his personal life and here he has had to open up more than he probably normally does…and he's done that so we can begin to trust him quickly. Jo made it pretty obvious that they are a committed couple and those pictures with her niece and nephew…Dee got the message and so did everyone else in the bullpen…It was 'hands off he's mine!' from Jo and Spencer looked like the cat who regularly gets the cream."

Katie laughed, "Yeah he really just sat back and let her protect him didn't he!"

"Well it worked, we were all girls together and she delivered the answers and we respect her for it. I think Spencer is going to be just fine here. He's obviously apprehensive about his lack of work with very young children…He seems more confident about working with older ones because the BAU have had more cases with over 5's than under. The guys all seemed happy chatting to Spencer earlier and he made a point of taking Jo over to talk to them aswell. Jo was very relaxed about it all and I think she'll be very supportive besides she has been coping with the aftermath of his BAU cases."

Katie nodded but she felt that Spencer Reid was still a big unknown whose reputation was already growing. She felt unsure about what he read about her with those beautiful expressive brown eyes. Gideon had seen through her but he was now gone and she had coped with Jason Gideon's scrutiny…Max Pentall seemed to think Reid a very capable psychologist but did she want an able psych analysing her at that moment?Katie stopped her rambling thoughts and reminded herself that she was excellent at her job even if her private life was a shambles.

The young couple got into Jo's Lexus that she had let Spencer use for work. Alan Petersen had been eyeing the old Volvo for some time as a possible 'renovation' challenge. He had renovated his own 1978 Volvo over the past 10 years and he cherished his metal baby, keeping the Volvo in pristine condition in one of the garages near the old stable block. The family had been exerting gentle pressure on Spencer to let Alan renovate his car for him. Margaret said that taking old cars to pieces took his mind off the pressures of his day job and out of the house when she was organising one of her charity meetings. Craig added his voice to the plea and said that Spencer's car would be returned better than he had ever seen it. Spencer didn't doubt that but it was just a case of getting a replacement car.

Marilyn quietly came up with the answer by suggesting that Jo gave Spencer her three year old Lexus and she could have a new one as her 'bonus' perk from the 'Fairfax Estates' Christmas pot. It was something of a tradition at their company that everyone got a bonus, in proportion to their wages, if the company had made a profit during that year. The teams of builders, maintenance men and office workers had all worked well and the company had made a handsome profit during the year. Although the majority of the profits would be re-invested in the company's future projects, everyone at Fairfax Estates would be getting a Christmas bonus with the December pay. This year it was decided that Jo was to get a new car and Marilyn had asked Spencer to 'please let Alan renovate your Volvo for you…He'll get so much pleasure out of it.'

"So are you going to let Dad play with your Volvo?" Jo asked as he headed towards Berwyn Heights.

"Yeah, I like driving this car…power steering, automatic…"

"And it's reliable," Jo added mildly.

"Are you suggesting my car isn't?" Spencer asked a little hurt.

"Spencer, your car needs a little TLC which my Dad will willing provide while he renovates and makes it just like new…You've seen what he did to his own old Volvo!"

"Yeah…it's a beauty," he agreed with admiration in his voice for Alan's mechanical abilities and patience.

"And best of all it will keep him out of Mom's way and doing something totally different to the law."

Spencer smiled, he wondered how many people knew that a Supreme Court Judge was happy getting oil and grease all over his fingers and enjoyed taking old Volvos apart and re-building them.

"Why don't you let him have it to renovate as a kind of Christmas present?" Jo asked suddenly.

"That's an idea, I mean I've no idea what to get your parents…"

"They don't want anything expensive they just like the unusual thing…the car would be just right and you could drive it over on Christmas Day and watch his surprise when you hand him the keys! Perhaps we can give Mom that embroidered fire screen we found in Annapolis on Saturday."

"Ok, I'm not very good at these things…."

"Spencer you're doing just fine," Jo assured and thought what a nice atmosphere there was to the office where he would be working despite the distressing cases they dealt with.

Spencer pulled into the driveway of their little house. It was the smallest building in the street but to Jo's delight it had a large attic bedroom that was full of light. Spencer had been walked around two apartments but had felt no real enthusiasm for them. The first house they had viewed on the Saturday had been larger but it just didn't feel right for either of them. This was the last property and Spencer suspected that Jo had already thought that it might be appropriate because she had deliberately left it to last.

The door opened into an entrance that was filled with natural light and doors to the downstairs rooms all came off this vestibule. The study looked out to the side and the driveway to the garage and it was big enough for a desk and several bookcases. The living room looked out to the front but there were glass doors through to the dining room that had a view onto a small courtyard garden. Jo had put her circular mahogany table and cream leather covered dining chairs in this room The dining room also had French doors that opened out onto the courtyard area which was perfect for them as neither would probably have the time to tend a garden. The occasional pruning of boundary shrubs and the watering of pots of flowering shrubs and flowers were manageable but there was enough room to entertain out here and the patio area had been attractively paved. The kitchen was the size of the Alexandria apartment and Jo had tried her dining table and chairs in here but they didn't look right. She had made a mental note of the sort of table that would be right for the kitchen units that had lime wood doors.

Upstairs were three bedrooms, two with ensuite shower facilities and the smaller third bedroom was next to the bathroom. Jo had brought her few pieces of bedroom furniture from her apartment but she was going to do some serious furnishing when there had been some decorating. There was another flight of stairs that lead to a large loft room with another small en suite shower room and could have been used as a guestroom but Jo had marked this out as her studio, the place had such good light that it was perfect for painting.

"You want me to decorate?" Spencer asked, as Jo rattled on about her plans for decorating and furnishing the house, but secretly hoped that she didn't want his help. He walked into the living room that appeared featureless and only contained Jo's cream couch together with her television and DVD player. Spencer suddenly realised how much he missed his apartment and all the very personal touches that made it home. He noted that Jo was chatting away and forced his tired mind to listen.

"No, I don't need your help… I've organised the Fairfax workmen to do that while we're working, I don't like the lilac and apricot colours upstairs. I have plans for these two main rooms…I want feature walls with distinctive designs to give them some character. Don't worry it will all be done while you're working and I'll get some more furniture and it will soon be transformed. Fortunately my cream couch will go with most colour schemes so we can sit down comfortably tonight. By the way, I have brought your chest because I thought you might like it here with you and I've some of my artwork to go up after the decorating. I've bought the plants from the bathroom and kitchen and I also remembered the bonsai…I thought we ought to keep that with us, and the terrarium… I've put them in the dining room for the moment…Is that all right?" she asked a little unsure because he seemed very quiet and subdued.

" It sounds all right, I mean your apartment's furniture is fine and I don't mind your bed…It's strange really, I mean we still want the Alexandria apartment to be left as much as it is…" he fumbled with his words. Home for him was his apartment and the reality of this house was beginning to hit him. They would obviously need more furniture because the pieces from Jo's tiny apartment were just lost in this larger space.

"Yeah, I understand but I'll soon make it our Maryland house. I'm putting up different artwork here, I mean I like how the Alexandria apartment looks and its ambience... I've put your lute in the bedroom," she added.

Spencer suddenly smiled he had been wondering where she had put it.

"I've brought my computer but I've not a desk for the study yet but my bookcases are in there now. I'll order furniture on-line from our usual suppliers…I'll get trade prices if it gets delivered to the Fairfax Estates warehouse and the guys will deliver the stuff for us as it comes…It's quite a quick run for them if they avoid the commuter traffic. I'll probably replace the drapes but I know your preferences so one night you'll return and it will all be transformed into a home!" she assured, and watched him as he seemed to be trying to get his bearings in the house.

"Fortunately the kitchen has all the necessary appliances we need and I'll get a table and chairs later this week. I was just about to go out food shopping when Aunt Marilyn brought some things over and filled the fridge and freezer…" she added thinking that he looked tired.

"Really!" said Spencer surprised at the generosity.

"Yeah, she didn't like the idea of us starving on our first night here. I met both sets of neighbours at lunchtime. Kerry and Gene live that way," Jo pointed to the left, " and he's a vet, he works with a practice in College Park and they have two boys aged 4 and 2…very lively pair. On the other side are Maitland and Jill and they have a daughter of 7 months and a 3 year boy. Maitland is high school teacher and also works in College Park. I told them what you did and they seemed to relax, Jill says that there are a couple of other FBI families on the estate and she thinks that the men are both based in Baltimore but they don't talk about their work."

"Right," Spencer replied and thought that Kramer would be able to tell him if he was really curious but at that moment he just wanted to eat and watch the news.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll get dinner…a surprise."

Spencer nodded, he suddenly felt very tired with all the stress of his first day at the unit and all the new faces he had assimilated and his initial profiles of his new colleagues. He switched on the television and sank down on to the couch but he never did hear the news as he drifted off to sleep.

The next few days were spent shadowing Danielle and getting to know the bullpen and Robert the computer technical analysis expert who lived in a windowless room next to Katie's office. He was a mild mannered African-American who preferred his office to socialising with the bullpen. He was a Tolkein fan and seemed to know the Lord of the Rings Trilogy inside out. It did not surprise Reid to find out that Robert's daughters were Arwen, Lorien and Rosie and was relieved when he said that his twin sons were James and Michael because his wife had insisted on naming them. Spencer thought Judy must be a wise woman because she had probably saved the poor boys from being teased for such names as Bilbo, Frodo, Merry or Pippin or perhaps he would have chosen Faramir or Aragorn…

"Something's amused, you are you going to share?" asked Danielle. His desk was at right angles to hers in the office and he now looked across at her and grinned. It was almost 10 o'clock on Thursday evening and they were waiting to hear how things had gone on a raid.

Danielle thought how young and vulnerable he looked when he smiled.

"I was talking to Robert and he told me about his children's names…"

"Thank God Judy insisted on naming the twins," Danielle stated with a grin.

"Exactly, I was just thinking of the possibilities if Daddy had named them…"

Danielle shook her head in mock horror, "Parents and the naming of their children…with some, all sense goes out of the window."

"So are you thinking of any names yet for the new one?"

"Well, my eldest is Edward after his great grandfather…if it's another boy, I like Eric but Paul likes Ryan. I like Amelie and Sophie at the moment if it's a girl but I may change my mind about that. If Edward had been a girl he was going to be Amy,"

"Nothing exotic then?"

"No, good solid normal names…You wait it'll happen to you one day then you'll realise just how difficult it is to name a child. I can understand the tradition of family names now it saves a lot of bother…"

"But later there's the confusion between father and son unless you add junior or the third!

"How pretentious!" Danielle laughed. It was a silly way to waste a few dragging minutes waiting to hear if a sweep of a private club had picked up underage girls. The phone rang and Reid was instantly reaching out….

"Reid…Good! Yeah I'll get the interview rooms ready," he looked up and grinned at Danielle, "A 6 month waiting game has paid off."

"Katie will be fighting to get Rankin in court, he's a slippery eel. We thought we had him a couple of years back but couldn't make the evidence stick. Bet she'll take the questioning personally,"

Spencer nodded and headed for the door to personally check that rooms for the underage girls were ready and enough female agents to shadow one to one the girls. He was still surprised when he did see the five girls brought in, each loudly protesting that they hadn't done anything wrong and that they were 18. Reid knew differently, he had helped Amanda identify them when Gerald had taken undercover pictures and film at the 'club' for members only.

They were all skinny, scantily dressed in tiny metallic mini skirts, shiny thongs and virtually see through blouses without bras. They had FBI jackets drapes over their shoulders but the girls seemed to resent them despite the cold night. Faces were made up in an attempt to make them look older but up close two girls particularly had the look of adolescents who were still experimenting with the pouting look of some of the fashion models in the teen magazines. Cheap perfume filled the corridor as they were escorted along, their high stiletto heels clattering on the floor en route to the individual rooms.

"Everyone a runaway," muttered Amanda Gilroy as she handed Spencer the initial paperwork, "The oldest one is 15 if we're right about her identity. The men were taken to the nearest precinct protesting innocence about underage girls, but when we got to the club Solitaire, the one we think is Linda Varley, was lap dancing. Tara, the redhead, who we think is really the mousy coloured Bryony Caulk, was providing services in a private room, so we have one guy for statutory rape. He's pleading innocence, she's claiming she's 18 and it's none of our business…The other three were pole dancing and the management were taping the floor show and they already had their blouses off."

Reid nodded; this was going to be a long night tying this all tightly together for the prosecutors. Chris, Tony, Mike, Carl and Rick were all interviewing the patrons at the precinct in Annapolis. Gerald and Katie were going to question Rankin, the club owner, personally in an interview room two floors above them and well away from the girls.

Reid maintained an air of detachment, this case didn't have the same distressing affect as some might have because there appeared an element of connivance from the girls themselves. A familiar pattern emerged; the girls had all runaway from dysfunctional homes of some kind, usually these were homes where drink and violence, or drink, drugs and violence were common and all too often sexual abuse added to the decision to leave the family. Bryony Caulk appeared very hard smitten, but her sexual precociousness, even with the few male agents and law personnel, hinted at sexual assault at a young age and playing the vamp was second nature to her.

"It's so sad, " Danielle said from the observation window outside the interview room, where Amanda was trying to get Bryony to admit who she really was, "She was probably sexually assaulted by her father and or other male relatives and the only way she knows how to get some form of acceptance and affection is to use sex has her meal ticket and it's her only measure of success."

Reid stood, hands in his pockets beside her, he had been four days in the job and felt old and jaded already. He had seen runaways before, some then got into bad company and drifted into crime to survive while others deliberately hit the streets, thinking they were strong enough to cope with the pimps, drugs and violence that were always in the background. They would probably be taken into care and sent back to their home cities but were just as likely to runaway again at the earliest opportunity. He knew he couldn't allow this case to affect him because in the scale of things it was not as shocking as other possible scenarios that could come his way. The Peter case had shocked him, the kidnapping of a young child was more shocking, child pornography was shocking but looking at these girls he felt that the battle for them had been lost a long time ago because of the home experiences. He doubted that they would say anything against their male relations who had possibly initially sexually abused them, and even if they did, defence lawyers would argue that they were lying unless they could make a watertight case against the adults concerned. These girls had harmed their own case by running away and getting 'work' with Rankin. Although the CACU suspected that Rankin and his associates deliberately targeted a certain type…the adolescent runaway who was already sexually abused so they wouldn't need to ' break them into the work'. Spencer thought that was the distressing part, these young women had experienced abuse for some time before their escape. But these girls thought that they would be in control of their own destinies by running away but ironically they couldn't break free of the sexual exploitation.'

"How's it going?" the two agents suddenly turned to face Katie who had crept up on them in her rubber-soled shoes.

"She's still holding out that she is not Bryony Caulk," Danielle said.

"What do you think of her, Spencer?" Katie asked the silent pensive man.

"I think her life experiences have scarred her to such a degree that she doesn't trust anyone. She would like to think that she can cope in the adult world but doesn't see that she is being exploited as much in that club as she was back at home. She will more than likely end up back on the streets because she can't break that cycle…We need as children to trust our parents and immediate family and she had that trust shattered at an early age…Do we have anything on her family?"

"Father in and out of juvenile detention, a couple of other children by different women and then he got arrested for dealing with coke. The usual, met up with another set of inmates and further involvement with drugs once out…Mother has no criminal record but had a succession of lovers while Bryony's father was in prison…they could have abused her. Mother seems to have left her occasionally with her friend while she went off with the latest lover..."

"Just another child from a dysfunctional family then," said Reid cynically, his barriers firmly in place so as not to get personally distressed.

"Awful to say, but yes…We would probably have more success with rescuing younger girls but this group didn't do themselves any favours by running away and never attempting to confide in an adult about the abuse they possibly suffered before doing so. Like you said…you have to still trust adults to confess the horrors of your life," said Katie but she was testing how the newest member to the unit was coping. She caught Danielle's eye and she gave a slight re-assuring nod at her boss. Katie was pleased because if Reid couldn't cope with this then he'd soon go under when things got really bad…when they were dealing with much younger children. "We still have a duty to prosecute Rankin for exploiting these girls and I suspect they were very popular for a fee. We have already identified two paedophiles who were at the club although the man with our fake redhead here was unknown to us and so far the checks on him are clean."

Reid nodded and thought that catching psychopaths was a world away from this but the effect on lives was still as devastating.

"How's it going with Rankin?" Spencer asked.

"He asked for his lawyer straight away but they were both shocked by the evidence we had. Gerald's undercover filming and photographs were shocking and as Rankin is seen in the company of these girls and in compromising positions…I left him wanting to make a deal with Roy, our lead prosecutor. Don't worry Spencer," she assured the newest unit member, "Roy is a grandfather and a devoted family man, Rankin won't get very far unless he's prepared to spill the beans big time!"

"Off you go now," Katie said to her deputy, "Spencer and I can cope with the situation here."

Danielle smiled and wished the pair of them goodnight, leaving Katie and Spencer staring into the interview room at one feisty and defensive teenager. "We have to wait for social services to turn up to transfer these girls to a secure unit…"

"Are they all being as unco-operative as this young lady?" Reid asked.

"No, the youngest pole dancer has admitted that she's Annie Bentham from Culpepper in Virginia and she's only just 14. Her aunt reported her missing a year ago…I think she's our weakest link in this outfit and Melanie is building up a rapport…She's already said that her mother's new boyfriend was a little too friendly for her liking but her Mom didn't believe her. Mom was picking up the pieces after her husband just walked out and then never paid maintenance and has since disappeared…We may be able to help her but it depends on just how cynical and bitter she has become."

Spencer nodded, a lot had happened to him while growing up but sexual abuse was not one of them. Katie's cell rang and she answered it. After a few minutes she ended the conversation and turned to Reid.

"Come on, we have some ladies from Social Services heading to my office…More paperwork and you will need to know these people…"

Spencer turned and walked beside his new boss to meet more contacts and amass yet more paperwork that went with the position.

He had not been at the CACU a week and they had successfully tied up a case the unit had been working on for half the year. There was a certain satisfaction to having pulled off a very tight case and the whole unit felt pleased with themselves. Roy had come to see Katie while Spencer was dealing with the paper work the ladies had brought with them from the Social Services department. Katie said afterwards that she would have to do some checking, after some sleep, but this case may be just the beginning of something far murkier. Reid was also told that Roy would be back for a working lunch and things would be discussed further then with himself and Danielle. Spencer had begun the paperwork but eventually the print began to blur before his eyes and he decided against more coffee and called it a night…the admin would still be waiting for him after some sleep.

Spencer wearily parked the Lexus in the drive and noted by the car's clock that it was almost 3 a. m. and had been thankful for virtually empty roads all the way to Berwyn Heights. He knew he had probably left it too long before heading homeward and was pleased that the journey home was much shorter than the Quantico to Alexandria drive. Spencer could smell paint and wallpaper paste as he entered the house but he was too tired to explore to see what changes had occurred since the decorating team had descended yesterday as he had left for work. He wondered again about what more had come out of this case for Katie to say that things could be getting murkier but then forced his brain to switch off from work. Spencer slipped into bed and snuggled up to his warm and cuddly Jo before his eyes closed and exhaustion soon took over and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

End of Chapter 2.


	3. Chapter 3

The Interregnum: Chapter 3 The Interregnum: Chapter 3

**By Helena Fallon.**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Friday at the CACU was still upbeat after the previous night's successful raid. Spencer got in at 9:15 to find Danielle had already started on the paper work that he had left on his desk.

"Morning!" Danielle cheerfully greeted him as he slipped into his chair still feeling the need for another dose of caffeine.

"Sorry, Danielle, I didn't get that all finished last night…"

"No need to apologise, I gather that you were here until after Katie left…Me, I was home by 10:30 and I'd not had so tiring a day setting things up here. I gather Roy was playing hard to get over a possible deal. Katie got in about 10 minutes ago saying loudly that she didn't want to be disturbed unless it was Roy! Do you know anymore about it?"

"She just said that Rankin had passed on somethings she had to check out to see if it could be used and that things might be about to get murkier," Spencer replied and thought about going to make a coffee. " And we're having a working lunch with Roy so I guess we'll find out more then," he yawned, "Sorry Danielle, I really do need some more coffee…" He pushed back his chair and headed for the kitchen.

"Morning Spencer," said Amanda cheerfully, "I need some more caffeine too…but we were all impressed with how you set things up here last night for us…It meant that everything went smoothly with those girls."

"I thought that was supposed to be my job, but nice to know that I did it right," he said pouring boiling water over the coffee granules.

"I'm sure Danielle would have said something if things had been incorrect but it's only your first week and you've hit the ground running and the rest of us have noticed and it's appreciated. I was here before Danielle came and we had two temporary deputies and they were frankly out of their depth with this department, neither lasted more than a couple of months."

"Really, I would have thought that Katie would have chosen more carefully," replied Spencer amazed at this piece of information.

"They were not her choice, both were sent here from the New York office and rumour has it that there was a certain amount of political manoeuvring from Washington. Anyway, when it was pretty obvious that the second one wasn't coping Adam made a stand and we got the person Katie wanted."

"It's a difficult unit, like the BAU, the lead agent ought to have a say in who comes but the BAU had an agent forced on them...It worked out in the end because the agent happened to have potential for the work. However, the two most senior agents were not happy about not being consulted and it put the new agent in a difficult position because they had not been expected and just turned up at the unit."

"Wow, at least we knew we were getting people before they came. I mean we knew that Katie was trying to get you and she told us that it was definite last Friday afternoon. I'm glad you took up the placement and Josh Kramer was in here singing your praises and saying that he'd have you if we women frightened you away!"

Spencer chuckled at that, "Does Kramer get over here often?" he asked.

"No, although he liaisons with other units over intelligence. He and Katie get on quite well and Danielle was in his unit before here. We like him and his wife Shelley. They actually live on the edge of Berwyn Heights so you might bump into the Kramers' if shopping locally," Amanda added before taking her mug of coffee back to her desk.

The rest of the bullpen seemed hard at work, mostly following up from last night's arrests and trying to verify background information the 'clientele' had given them. Some of the men were already on the 'sex offenders register' but others were new faces and these had to be carefully looked at to see if they had been involved with previous undetected sex offences. Warrants were being issued to search homes for pornography and personal computers to be confiscated for extensive searching to check for sites visited and e-mails that might link them to further illegal activities. Some twenty-seven men had been arrested at the club and only six were from Maryland. The others had travelled from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and Virginia. The whole unit had put all of their efforts into the raid and offices in the other states were handling the search warrants and data gathering about these men that would then be passed back to them at College Park.

"Hi Melanie," said Spencer as he passed her desk, "How did you get on with that Culpepper girl last night?"

"Annie Bentham…she really hates her mother but her aunt was the one who reported her missing and Annie wanted to see her again if she didn't feel ashamed about what Annie had done. She's only 14, Spencer, and needs a lot of counselling but doesn't want to go home. She said that her mother's boyfriend was abusing her but her mom just thought she was lying to split them up. Annie didn't think anyone would believe her because her mother didn't and she just found herself with Sara Younge and they were picked up by Rankin and his partner soon after getting to Washington."

"Sara Younge seemed very self-confident for her age," remarked Reid remembering her defiance the previous evening as she was brought in.

"Tough as old boots! Very difficult background; she'd runaway from her foster home, the fourth foster home she'd run away from in two years. Parents had never married and when they split, Dad took his two sons and left Sara with her mother. Mom didn't want her as she cramped her style for getting a new man. We think she was having sex with older boys from the age of 12 and was referred to social services when she became pregnant and demanded an abortion…"

Spencer shook his head sadly, "And we wonder why these girls end up being vulnerable to people like Rankin."

"Yeah, but no one wants to know about underage sex and if you go after the boys they just shrug it off and their parents don't take it seriously either…its the old 'boys will be boys' attitude. But then these youngsters are just surrounded by sexual images in the media, far more than when I was a kid. Honestly, it's hard to be a parent these days with what kids are bombarded with," Melanie said seriously, her cropped golden yellow hair in its no nonsense style matched her straightforward personality.

Spencer glanced at the photo of her two daughters, one mousy the other as blond as her mother. "It didn't stop you wanting to be a parent!" said Spencer in reply to her comments.

"I'm still a believer in the family being the last bastion against anarchy," she firmly stated.

Spencer grinned, "Thankfully there are still a lot of people like you or civilisation would totally crumble."

"There are some inner cities that believe that society is crumbling because we are loosing that sense of family life that kept people together in adversity," she remarked.

"Yeah, I know and there are sociologists who tell us that gang culture is thriving because of the breakdown of the family unit and the gang has become the pseudo family for the feral youths of today. But a marriage certificate doesn't guarantee happiness or stability!"

"No it doesn't but it's still too easy to runaway or ignore your responsibilities as a parent. The absent father is still more prevalent than the absent mother." replied Melanie.

"True but not all women make good mothers," Spencer countered and instantly thought of his own mother. Diana Reid had been a gifted academic but he still remembered the times he felt in the way before her illness took hold. She really didn't know what to do with him in his early years and he had far more memories of doing things with his father than with his mother.

Spencer continued back to the office he shared. The coffee didn't have much effect but he took half of the paperwork from Danielle and set about forcing his mind to get into gear. The morning passed very quickly and suddenly Katie's slender and shapely figure was in the room full of nervous energy.

"Morning, sorry I've been keeping to myself this morning but I had a lot of calls to make before lunch. I've ordered a selection of pizzas and side salads…so the conference room in 15 minutes," she briskly said before suddenly disappearing.

Spencer sensed the woman was 'very jumpy like a live wire' with the effects of her follow up researches and just raised his eyebrows at Danielle.

"Get used to it…That's Katie all fired up and full of ideas and possibilities…She can be very hyper when we're running three or four cases all coming to a head at once. It's the deputy's job to be the quiet stable one and the barrier between Katie and the bullpen because she can get very impatient with people at these times if they interrupt her with trivial things. Usually they all understand these moods but sometimes you have to provide the encouragement and assurance for the 'worker bees' while the 'queen bee' is concentrating on the next major moves."

Spencer nodded and thought how fortunate the BAU had been with Hotchner as the Unit Chief. It was Gideon who could be the moody one in the team when he was thinking hard about a case.

There was a tap on the open door and they looked up at the same time.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt," said the portly middle aged man. He was impeccably dressed in a light grey suit, pale blue shirt and co-ordinating blue striped tie, the ensemble looked expensive and he had the air of a confident lawyer about him. But Spencer was drawn to his eyes, this man wore silver rimmed spectacles that didn't distract from the piercing green eyes. The man's remaining receding hair was pure white and Spencer wondered if he'd originally been a red head with the eye colouring.

"Danielle grinned, "Hi Roy, meet Spencer Reid,"

Roy smiled warmly and Spencer found his hand engulfed in a firm handshake, "You organised things back here really well last night and you've now set yourself quite a bench mark…we'll expect all the post detainments to go as smoothly…" he said quietly in a bass voice.

"Oh…it may have been a pure fluke, but I tried to think how I'd want it if I was interviewing," he confided.

"Well you got it right and we all appreciated it. I'm glad you've come, I've heard good things about you from Hotch."

"Really!" said Reid feeling suddenly embarrassed and intrigued that Hotch knew this man.

"Hotch was a prosecutor for the FBI in New York before he decided to become an agent…I knew him from my days there."

Spencer nodded but didn't feel he knew enough about Hotch's life then to make a comment so he slightly changed the subject.

"Did you like New York?" he asked.

"Oh the experience was good for my career but you get weary of it after a time…You know the city is never quiet and sometimes you just feel the need to do things at a different pace. Not that I lived in New York…we lived in the nicer quieter part to the north of the city in Westchester County. I then moved to L.A. and finally here…But don't tell people, we really like it here and we try to keep this place a secret just in case other personnel get wind of it and start putting in for transfers!"

Spencer chuckled, he instinctively felt at ease with Roy. There was a sense of rock solid stability about him and Katie obviously liked working with this man.

"Come on, lets go and join Katie for lunch…I love pizza so blame the menu on me," said Roy good humouredly and lead the way into the conference room where Katie was placing the large boxes on the long table and the smell of percolating coffee met them.

"Oh that's a bad sign, Spencer," said Danielle, "Percolated coffee…she's softening us up for something difficult!"

"Shush…Don't get him worried before we start…Besides Spencer's dealt with some very dangerous people…I've got your book," Katie said with a nod in his direction.

"What book is this?" Roy asked turning to Spencer.

"Oh its just been printed but its an update on the work I did for my last doctorate in criminal psychology. I talked to psychopaths in prison," replied Spencer and part of his brain realised that he had been so busy with the move here that the publication date had happened two days ago. He had given the publisher several addresses for complimentary signed copies to be sent out, one each to Max, Don and Arthur because of their care of him at the Clinic and one to go to Hotch at the Washington office. He had wanted to send one to Gideon but he had no address now and as customary a copy was automatically sent to the Academy's library.

"It's just been printed…How exciting would I be able to understand it?" Roy asked.

"Actually you would because Spencer doesn't confound the reader with jargon but the transcripts of the interviews are fascinating but what's more…He went back and interviewed the dying Clark Norton and they managed to find six more of his victims," explained Katie as she handed round plates and cutlery. Spencer realised that Katie's take away lunches were more civilised than the ones at the BAU where fingers were the norm with pizza.

"The prison governor asked if the FBI wanted to send anyone to listen to his ramblings just in case they were useful and Erin Strauss let me go. I didn't expect to get anything from him as the cancer had spread to his brain and a lot of the time he was rambling during his conscious periods. However, I was lucky because it was an early case I'd worked with Gideon so I knew the area and details and I managed to piece together the clues to a possible site and it yielded more bodies. We will never know just how many women he killed but at least some more families were able to have a form of closure. A couple of families wrote to me at the BAU to thank me for my efforts and it's those letters that really mean a lot to me."

Roy sat back listening to this quiet young man and thought that Katie was very fortunate to have got him here for a few months because he was sure that the BAU would want him back.

Danielle looked at him in a new light. This man she had been working with all week had said nothing about a newly published book but it was refreshing to work with someone who wasn't an egotist. Katie smiled noting Danielle's surprised look. Katie had enjoyed revealing that news, besides she wanted Spencer to sign her copy because she had a feeling that this book was going to be popular with crime and psychology courses for some time to come. She was sure that having a first edition and signed would be a worthy addition to her personal library.

They sat at the table with full plates and mugs of coffee and Katie suddenly began to be all business.

"Rankin is trying to wriggle away by bargaining saying he didn't know the girls were under 16, let alone 18. He claims that they were not kept against their will and they did live in good conditions on the premises and the girls haven't made any complaints about their treatment…In effect they knew what was expected and he did pay them a wage. Not much because he took out the living expenses of food and board and clothing allowance."

Roy looked at Danielle and Spencer's faces and said, "I know…but he's right compared to some places that club was paradise and the girls knew it. Rankin was using the girls themselves to keep them together...peer pressure not to let their fellow runaways down and show any weakness. If they complained to the law then they had to admit who they were and that they were free to leave so they were compliant with the activities there."

"You're not going to let him have a lesser charge are you?" asked Spencer bluntly.

"No, but I let him stew a bit and then he began to suggest that perhaps he could give us a bit of information for some understanding as to where he might be detained," Roy softly explained. "Some prisons have a softer regime than others and he wants to go where there is a rehabilitation programme for sex offenders."

"Right, so he'll play the remorseful offender and attend all the programme sessions, say all the right things and the counsellor's running it will think he's one of their successes and recommend him for early release…and we know that he's just playing the system to his advantage," replied Spencer. Katie looked sharply at him and couldn't suppress her surprise because she had not expected to hear such cynicism in his voice so soon.

"I have come across sex offenders before Katie," he replied wearily before she could say anything.

"You've got it," conceded Roy, "But I'm an old hand at this game too and said that such preferential treatment only came about if the information he gave us ended up being very useful and lead to arrests."

"So what's the bone he's tossed us?" asked Danielle.

"Says that there are a network of these places in the south but they will lie low for at least two months once the news of our raid gets round the circuit. I told him that I wanted names and addresses but he said he didn't know the addresses only the contact guy in each state. It was how we got to Rankin in the first place because the Philadelphia weak link told us about the Annapolis outfit. They will probably be similar set ups…on the outside they look like warehouses but it's what happens inside and upstairs in the evenings that's important. They cost to join so that keeps out all but the really serious and they check your references to make sure you're into the same deal…these guys get to know one another on the circuit. It cost us a thousand to get Gerald into the club with a false identity and references from our informant and someone else he leaned on…another fee of a thousand. Money talks as usual," said Roy.

"Did they know that Gerald was undercover?" Reid pressed because Katie had been very secretive about the operation so far.

"Rankin and his employees hadn't worked that out but obviously after the raid Rankin saw him. However, they don't know that we also have another undercover agent within the same group of men, even Gerald didn't know about him. We'll just call him Nigel and he attended different nights to Gerald and that goes no further than this room. The guys on any particular night vary because it's so expensive to join and subsequent door entry is two hundred, cash only. There are also those who travel outside their own state so they have less chance of being recognised. This successful raid will force other guys who had used the club to seek another and Nigel still has some of his contacts he made with the other clientele. They just thought he and Gerald were 'watchers'… you know just liked to watch others perform. We have been slowly identifying the other men on the nights Gerald attended and of course like all clubs you find 'friends' with similar tastes. We thought it best to keep Gerald and Nigel totally in the dark about each others operations so everything was as secure as we could make it." Katie explained.

"So this Nigel's still in the play?" Spencer asked.

"Definitely and he got rung on his cell by Andy this morning to say that the club had been raided and to hold tight while things settled down and then he'd take him to another club he knew," added Katie. "We checked the call comes from a 'pay as you go' but the number is the same one Andy gave Gerald…I've told Nigel to stay in character until further notice in case he's being watched."

"Who's Andy?" asked Reid all alert and his mind whirling away with the possibilities of following up this case further.

"He's an accountant who is married with a son of three, his wife is petite, 'child like' in physical appearance… Real name is Mark Sayers and works for City Hall in Baltimore," replied Katie.

Spencer nodded, he was following type, with a liking for young teenagers and even had a waif-like wife to fit the similar physical attraction and she gave him the cover of a respectable married family man. He wondered if Mrs. Sayers had any idea about her husband's activities.

"I've got the photographs Nigel has taken and some film of the clientele, similar to Gerald's operation, but again we used a different technical backup team who didn't know about the other operation. It may sound paranoid but over the years we have found that this is the best way to keep any disasters contained and it gives the other people not picked up in a raid a false sense of security. These offenders are very clever and secretive and they pay highly for their pleasures to the people who run these establishments.

Those girls we picked up last night were lucky, when they got too old Rankin probably passed them on to his adult venues. The Philadelphia club didn't give the girls so much freedom and would make sure that the girls were removed permanently when they got too old or sold them on to one of the clients for personal use…and again probably to be eventually killed. The authorities are still following up leads from that case and trying to find where some of the girls disappeared to." Katie said beginning to trust her new deputy and bring him up to speed on a case he had just got to know. However, it was obvious to Spencer that there was months of undercover work involved to get this far and still more to come.

"What is worse is that these clubs are trying to protect themselves by being expensive and they are attracting the more articulate paedophile so when we pick them up they know all the legal moves and claim respectability. Usually they are in good professions aswell so they have people, like neighbours and colleagues, who are ready to believe that they are innocent," added Roy, "Believe me I've been doing this for 10 years now and I've heard it all!"

"Are you going to let him bargain with just this?" Spencer probed.

"No, I think he knows a lot more about his clientele and is able to direct them to other things. I want to know about the places with the younger children, and I want names and how to contact them. The younger the children, the more likely we are able to get them convicted. Katie and I suspect that some missing children maybe be involved and probably kept somewhere remote so when they get too old or difficult then they get disposed of."

"You sure he knows?" Spencer pressed seeing that this was going to be a big can of worms and if true children could be killed if those involved got suspicious.

"My gut feeling is that he does, Rankin is a bigger player than he's making out. What he doesn't know is that our Robert tracked his two off shore bank accounts and his venues have not been earning the amount that he's been having transferred into these," replied Roy and wondered if this man had ever considered a career in the courtroom as a prosecutor.

"So what are we to do?" asked Danielle getting back to the case in hand.

Katie took a sip of her coffee before she began with her instructions. "I want you and Spencer to go through Nigel's picture evidence so far and try to see if any are in the criminal system and if not, then a wider sweep trying to identify the men. The sooner we start the more prepared we'll be for when things start moving again which probably won't be until the end of January at the earliest. I want you to solely concentrate on that Danielle, if asked you're just following up matters on the Rankin case. Now Spencer, you can help Danielle when you're not busy but I want you also to keep an eye on the bullpen. In effect, I want you playing the more active role of the deputy while Danielle is beavering away. Mostly it's child pornography matters which is on going. The men have also had some material come from our counterparts in Thailand requesting our help to identify some men on film they seized when they raided an illegal web server address…Again they will be using the standard ID programmes but it's all time consuming. We've had some success with arresting men involved with sex tourism."

"Yeah, Carl explained what they were doing on Monday and they thought that one of the four men was someone they had seen on-line abusing young boys over the past two years but they still haven't managed to track him. They don't think he's American but suspect he's British or Canadian and may be working here. Rick explained that they were trying to identify a group of prepubescent girls who have been appearing recently with a couple of the men. It's believed that they are American because of the material objects in the background of the room that had showed a television in the corner …There was a news broadcast which Chris persevered with to work on the picture image and identified a New York station." Spencer informed Katie to show that he had been busy getting to know the bullpen.

"By the way, do you know what Corinne and Adele are working on?" Katie mildly asked and Spencer knew it was a test from his new boss.

"They are co-ordinating the tracking of two cases, both domestic child kidnappings that originated here in Maryland. One a father who took the son after failing to get custody and three times they feel they have just missed him despite the fast actions of colleagues in Texas and Nevada. They are keeping an eye on his bank accounts and relatives' movements and think he is in California and getting help from them. The other case is a mother who felt she'd lose custody of her daughters because of a drink-driving prosecution and took off with her two under 5s. They were last positively sighted in New Jersey but Adele thinks she would have headed for New York where the mother studied for a degree and of course...a big place to hide if you want to." Spencer answered and got a smile from Danielle for his efforts.

Katie nodded pleased that Spencer was on top of things going on with bullpen.

**Friday Evening**.

Hotch sat on the train waiting for his stop. He didn't bother to drive into the office because it was walkable from Union Street Station and there were never enough places to park and the drive was always a hassle. His first week in Washington was over and it had been a time spent getting to know the personal details of the members of the Senate and Congress. This was part of the timetabled plan so that when he came across these people he could target the conversation to their personal details and would therefore be more likely to be remembered because of it. This ego massaging technique was very common in large organisations and corridors of power. Hotch had even had it used on him in the past but at least he was aware of the process and didn't feel particularly flattered other than the satisfaction that he knew he had ruffled enough feathers to be made a target for the attention.

He was enjoying the new routine of a civilised breakfast, a taxi to the station or Hayley would drive him if little Jack was dressed and ready. They would both be waiting for him at the station tonight and he enjoyed seeing the look of delight on his son's face when he caught sight of his father coming out of the station. He knew that this week had been an easy one but soon there would be the later evenings as they had dinners to work the contacts in the corridors of power.

Hotch felt the train slowing and he began to do up his overcoat and picked up his brief case as the train pulled to a halt. He moved smoothly through the crowds of commuters and towards the area he knew that Hayley would have parked. Hotch got into the back seat to sit beside Jack and Jack handed him the book he had been looking at. It was the evening routine, Daddy and Jack looked at a book while Mommy drove them home and then they all ate the meal that Hayley had prepared ready for quickly cooking when they got back. It was a mundane routine that Hotch found wonderfully relaxing compared with the deceptively quiet BAU days and then the sudden manic pace of working a case any where in the country.

As he read a story about 'Little Bear' to Jack another part of his brain thought about the adult book he was currently engrossed in…

On Wednesday, Hotch had received a signed copy of Reid's book and he had found himself reading it whenever he could.

"What's that you're reading so avidly?" asked Stefan Brunell as he stood before Hotch's desk.

"This is a book Spencer Reid has just had published and includes the last interviews with Clark Norton…not that you can really call them that. He was dying of cancer and it had reached the brain so there's a lot of rambling…"

"Sent you a signed copy as his Unit Chief then?"

Hotchner nodded feeling a swell of pride for the young man who had written this tome, "It's based on his last doctorate and it's fascinating. I knew it said in his file that he'd interviewed the criminally insane for his thesis but I can now fully appreciate why Gideon persuaded the Bureau to bend its rules for him."

"I remember him coming for a series of interviews…Looked like a puff of wind would blow him over, all nervy and terrbly young looking, but once you got him talking he seemed ancient for his years. Stocker wondered if he'd manage the physical training but he was one of those wiry types who are tough and like the willow tree…supple but strong. He used to do a lot of swimming and he could lope around doing distance running but he looked so ungainly. Stocker used to say that he looked all bony elbows and knees with a bit of flesh between but he had that deceptive strength of the distance runner…no great speed but just his own steady rhythm."

Hotchner grinned, "Yeah, I guess everyone under-estimates Reid but I know he's a very strong man both physically and psychologically."

Brunell stared and looked thoughtful, "You want him back don't you?"

"Yes," stated Hotch firmly, "He's a very fine profiler and considering that he started doing some of the interviews in this book when he was only 19, I'm beginning to really understand how much he deliberately didn't tell his colleagues. You know some agents would have had big egos over something like this but I just think Reid sees it as the norm for him so it was no big deal. I also suspect he was aware that some of his colleagues had more fragile egos and never told them about his doctorate because he didn't want to appear the new kid just boasting about his achievements."

"Would I understand it?" Brunell asked quite intrigued by Hotch's enthusiasm.

"Yes, that's the point, it's beautifully written and shows clarity of thinking and explanation. It reminds me of the writings of Richard Feynman, he could communicate difficult concepts to the layman. Even the non expert will find themselves understanding something of the psychology behind some of the monsters of our society…You can borrow it to read if you like when I've finished it," Hotch invited.

"I'd like that, I remember the horror of Norton. Now what did I really come in here for…"

The next day Hotch had met Eric Samuelson in the elevator on arrival at the office,

"Morning," Eric beamed at him, "Have you seen Reid's book…My copy was waiting for me when I got back last night…couldn't put it down. That's going to be a standard text…want to have a bet on it?"

"No because I agree with you. I'm sure his publisher would have automatically sent one of the complimentary copies to the Academy library," replied Hotch. Aaron Hotchner was glad that Reid was not at the BAU at that moment because he felt that another certain agent might be feeling a little a fragile over the appearance of this book on top of the other changes that had been happening in his old Unit. Hotch hoped Reid was adjusting to the CACU because it was an opportunity to show the Bureau that he was a very capable agent in his own right and had learnt a great deal that he could now put into practice.

Hayley turned into the drive. She parked and looked behind her, beaming happily at the two men in her life. Hotch thought that at that moment they were happy once more after all the anguish of the failed pregnancies, it was a good feeling.

Emily finished writing the last profile request allotted to her and she was ready for a weekend away from Quantico. It had been a strange week; the feel of the department was totally altered with Gideon, Hotch and Reid all gone. She was not the only agent who found their eyes looking at Reid's empty desk and wondering how he was getting on in the CACU. The door to Hotchner's former office was open and no one wanted to close it although the door to Gideon's old room had been closed. Some in the unit thought that Barry might move into Gideon's old office because it was considerably larger than his own room but Barry seemed content to stay where he was.

Emily got up and placed the profile folder in the tray to be sent on by the clerical staff. She glanced around the bullpen, there were just the two agents who were on the night shift in case something urgent came in and herself. It had been a very subdued atmosphere all week and the bullpen felt distinctly icy when Erin Strauss had made an appearance on Tuesday morning. She had tried to make conversation with a few of the people in the bullpen but it was obvious that no one wanted to chat to her so she had marched into Barry's office and firmly closed the door. An hour later she had left, silently sweeping her way across the bullpen, her head held high, as if in defiance that she would enter this domain that didn't want her.

Barry had said nothing about the visitation but he kept everyone working on the profile requests and ignored Morgan's 'I'm bored already' remark.

Emily was annoyed with Morgan's childish behaviour as the week progressed and if he returned on Monday with the same attitude then she would tell him to grow up. Anderson had decided to keep out of Morgan's way and moved his desk to the other end of the room because Shepperd had been moved to the San Francisco Office and there was now a space near Kennick who was Anderson's tennis partner. Morgan had also annoyed Garcia by hanging around her office until Emily heard her loudly tell him to go and do some work because she didn't want to hear anymore of his whinging and would prefer it if he didn't enter her work space during shift time. Derek had slunk back to his desk muttering that he hoped that things were going to liven up with a case soon or he'd be looking for another department. Emily had mentally said, ' and good riddance!' and then chided herself because it was just the effect of all the changes on the man and she hoped he would just settle down soon.

Anderson had come in that morning with a book in his hand saying that he'd got his through the post yesterday and it was really good.

"Yeah, I got so stuck into it last night that I almost burnt my supper. You know he never said a word about his doctorate when I worked with him," said Emily.

"Oh that's just typical Reid…There's something about him that… he wouldn't say anything because he wouldn't want other people to think he was being superior. I miss his quiet presence here. Reid had a great sense of humour but it was never at another's expense and I think that is why he was so genuinely liked by everyone," explained Anderson.

"What's that you're reading?" Morgan asked as he made his appearance looking like a puma on a tight leash, ready to spring into action.

"Reid's book got published and our copy's were waiting for us when we got home," replied Emily and Anderson moved to distance himself like he usually did when Morgan was in one of his bored moods.

"What book?"

"It's taken from the interviews he did for his last doctorate and then updated and includes the final interviews with Clark Norton. This is what got him into the Bureau at 21," Emily finished but she saw that Morgan was thoughtful and put his hand out to have a look at her copy.

Morgan spent a few minutes quietly flicking through the pages; finally he looked up and said,

"Jeez Emily, I worked with this man for over three years and he never talked about his doctorate…No wonder the Bureau bent the rules for him…He was interviewing some really strange people and we…I under-estimated him all along…I wonder if Barry knew."

"Knew what?" asked Barry as he was walking through en route to his office.

Morgan raised the book in his direction, "Reid's book…it's based on his last thesis."

"Yeah, Gideon told us what he had done when he came to join us after his initial training. We knew it had to be something relevant to get in the Bureau so young and to have Gideon so determined to have him here. Reid never made an issue of it and just put his head down to learn the profiling techniques for working in the field."

"Barry!" Paressi called from the other end of the bullpen and the conversation ended.

Emily thought that she was seeing a Morgan who rarely surfaced here, the intelligent and more sensitive one that he usually hid from the bullpen. He had turned to the very beginning and the dedication. Emily watched him read it.

"I thought he might have dedicated it to Gideon but he doesn't," said Morgan softly and looked up into her eyes.

"No, he dedicated it to those more important than his mentor," Emily said sadly remembering the words, "To the memories of all the victims whose fates we know and all those who have yet to be discovered but are not forgotten by their families and friends."

"I know I'm feeling caged, Emily, but I don't envy his present placement. Going to the CACU every day must be quite a challenge…I'd hate it."….

"Penny for them!" Garcia broke into her memories.

"Oh Garcia! You still here aswell…I was just about to go and escape for the weekend. Have you got any plans how you're going to spend yours?" Emily asked with a friendly smile.

"I'm going shopping for some new clothes," the blond replied with satisfaction in her voice.

Emily looked closely at her and suddenly realised that staying in her office working as much as possible since almost getting dismissed meant that she had escaped their daily scrutiny.

"Penelope…You've lost quite a lot of weight haven't you?" she suddenly said re-appraising the woman properly for the first time in months.

"Yeah, I was doing too much comfort eating and my doctor wasn't too pleased with my blood pressure and then he started lecturing me about diabetes. I guess getting suspended made me think about what I was doing with my life and to myself so I started to make little changes and cut down on the treats and then cut them out completely. I put the money I'd saved not buying the cake and sweets into an old money box and I emptied it at the end of the first month and banked it. Well, I couldn't believe just how much I wasted on junk so I did it again the next month and the next, so tomorrow I'm going to treat myself because my clothes have got too big. I've been wearing things that had once been too small for me but now these are too big aswell!"

Emily beamed at Garcia's triumph, "Thata Girl! How much have you lost?"

"Twenty eight pounds," she replied with a grin, "I know I'll never be as slim as you or J.J. but I feel a lot fitter now and I want to buy a pair of boots…Ones up to the knee that look fashionable and not enormous 'old lady' ones with elastic in the sides to fit around fat calves."

"Oh Penelope!" and Emily reached forward and gave her a hug, "I think that's fantastic and you've got to buy an outfit for the Christmas party to show off your new curves."

Garcia felt both shy at her confession and pleased that someone had finally noticed her diminishing bulk and new shape. The BAU had been so busy and she had kept her head down trying to prove her worth once more that no one had remarked even if they had noticed.

Spencer walked into the house at 6:30 and could smell the vegetable lasagne cooking.

"Hi…Have a good day?" Jo asked as she suddenly appeared from the living room, "Dinner will be about 20 minutes."

He hung up his coats and turned and hugged her, pleased that he was home at a reasonable hour tonight.

"Yeah, a good day…So I have time to explore the house tonight, I was too tired last night."

"Oh there have been lots of changes because I've had a dozen men working here over the past two days. But I cheated by using the stuff already in the warehouse and the drapes are all material that co-ordinate with the specialist wallpaper…Expensive stuff but I didn't have to shop or specially order it. The men also delivered some more furniture today so it's beginning to look more like a home now."

She hugged him tight before letting him go. He looked tired again and as thin as ever but they did hopefully have a weekend free and not on call.

"OK so do I start upstairs and work down?" he asked and she grinned and took his hand to take him up the stairs.

"The little bedroom first," she said and he entered and stood surprised at the transformation of the room that he remembered had been cream and apricot. Now three walls of the smallest bedroom were white and the feature wall had a sunny yellow paper with white daisies and there were matching yellow and daisy drapes at the window. Plain waxed pine furniture complimented the colour scheme and on the long white wall there were three tall narrow acrylic paintings of different trees: an oak, a cedar and a sequoia.

"I'm very impressed, I was not expecting this but its lovely," he said amazed at the changes she had wrought.

They went together into the second bedroom and this one now contained her bedroom furniture from her old apartment and she had given this room a dramatic colour scheme like she had in her old place. Here three walls were a pale cream but the fourth was papered in a crimson red with a bold black and gold peony design. Again the drapes were a co-ordinating material to the peony paper. There was a JEM painting of cherry trees opposite the feature wall and Spencer suspected she had painted it from a scene in Washington.

He pulled her to him and hugged her, "I hope that you have furnished our bedroom or are we changing rooms tonight?"

"The men arrived at 3:45 this afternoon with the furniture, I hope you like it but you did give me free reign," she said revealing that she had made decisions because he had seemed so wrapped up with the work load of his first week.

They went into their bedroom and Spencer vaguely remembered noticing, as he dressed that morning, that it had been decorated but he was late so he had not lingered. Now he stood and fully appreciated the calmness of the duck egg blue walls and the feature wall with its expensive looking designer wallpaper. This paper was also duck egg blue but had a bold lily design in silver and once more had drapes in the same pattern. The large bed was of a modern design with a light oak headboard of broad strips of wood. The light oak furniture was a similar plain design for chests of drawers and side tables. There were two royal blue jacquard covered easy chairs angled either side of a corner by the window, on one there was a large bear he'd not seen before…

"Jo!" he raised his voice in protest.

She looked at him with enormous black eyes shining her innocence.

"It's only one bear, Paddington lives at our Alexandria home," she replied mildly to his protest.

Spencer knew he had lost any argument, Jo loved her bears and thankfully most still inhabited her parents' home.

"Look!" she said to deflect him from Albert, her new bear, and pointed to Spencer's oak chest, "I thought it was such a lovely piece of furniture in its own right so I put it between the chairs and there's your lute," she re-assured indicating the other side of the empty chair.

"I've still got to find the right bedspread," she said, "But the essentials are here."

"I'm amazed that you have got this organised so quickly…I know it was the Fairfax workmen but the furniture?"

"Ah now that is where we are gaining a reputation! Furniture design companies are only too pleased to rush an order out if they know its going to probably be put in an expensive apartment or house. People will see it and hopefully want to know what else they make so it's like free publicity."

"Mmm" He pulled her gently to him and kissed her lips and pressed further for another lingering kiss while his hands began to roam. She pushed him away…

"Later, after dinner!" she said playfully and her black eyes shone with the promise of her words.

"Can't it wait?" he asked hopefully turning on his charm with his big brown eyes.

"No, it will be cooked soon…Now come and see what I've done down stairs."

Spencer reluctantly watched her walk from the room. He shrugged and followed her down the stairs reminding himself that Jo could be very single minded when she wanted to be. The first thing he noticed about the living room was that there were now two easy chairs of a modern Scandinavian design with dark green covers and light oak wooden arms and legs. The cream couch had acquired cushions in a similiar dark green. There was also a light rectangular oak coffee table of a clean unfussy design that again Spencer imagined was Swedish or Danish. The living room and dining room were both decorated in a similar way to give some continuum and gave a sense of the rooms being more spacious than they actually were. The walls were a soft white and the contrasting long feature walls were decorated with the same designer wallpaper. This time it was a sage green with a bold leaf design in silver that on careful inspection revealed hidden wren like birds amongst the foliage. On the opposite white wall in the living room was a JEM painting of sunlight on a pond with lilies.

"That pond is in the grounds of a house on the outskirts of Oxford in England," she explained, "I did the preliminary sketches in the summer when I visited."

"So have you got one of your paintings in the dining room aswell?" asked Spencer.

"Yes, go and look you might recognise it."

He walked through the glass door and looked at the large canvas that was hung above a new mahogany sideboard.

"That's the old apple tree in the little garden to the side of your home where your father likes to sit."

"Mmmm…It's a lovely peaceful place when you want a few quite moments," she replied and grinned at him, "Do you like it so far?"

"Yes, it's really got some character now but you've not put any artwork up in our bedroom yet…is this significant?"

"It's not arrived yet," she replied enigmatically and she smirked at his questioning raised eyebrow.

"It will be a surprise…Come on, it smells like the lasagne is ready." Jo added with twinkling eyes.

The shrill ring of his cell phone penetrated his sleep and he reached out to the side of the bed still trying to wake up enough to answer it coherently.

"Reid," he managed and yawned.

"Sorry, Spencer, but Katie said to ring you rather than Danielle," said Carl's apologetic voice.

"Yeah what's wrong?"

"We've got a problem…urgent, missing 13 year old just passed on to us from the Delaware Office…"

Reid was alert, he was moving automatically, the side light was switched on and he was up and gathering clothes together as Carl was still giving him details. Jo rolled over and knew that a restful weekend was not on the cards.

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

**The Interregnum : Chapter 4 **

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Less than 30minutes later Spencer was entering the bullpen; Amanda was waiting for him and passed him a mug of heavily sugared percolated coffee.

"Katie made it as soon as she got in, she's with Carl and Tony in the conference room. Marion Lyddon, the girl's mother, told the police in Dover that Jessica was missing at 7 p.m. Jessica's usually home doing her homework at that time, but when she got home from work her daughter wasn't there and so she rang her school friends who all claimed they thought she was ill…" Amanda said giving him as much detail as she knew…

"Didn't turn up for school…eventually the police interviewed the friends who were not very helpful and finally one hinted that Jessica had a friend on-line in the Washington area. The police were already checking the family computer but this girl was good and had a password that Mum didn't know. Eventually Dover Police's computer guy got into Jessica's e-mail and she had arranged to meet a guy called Terry, at the car park next to the big Dover Park on the outskirts of Dover. She had sent him pictures of herself…all made up, claiming to be bored with small time Dover and in need of some fun."

"Oh God…Why do these kids do such things?" groaned Spencer and thinking that this was yet another young teenager putting herself at risk.

"In this case, divorced parents, younger brother went with Dad last year and they live in Wilmington. Mom's a hard working supermarket cashier and does overtime most nights. Jessica seems to have been bored resenting not having the money and attention she used to have before the divorce. Jessica is an above average student but her recent grades have not been reflecting her ability and she began to mix with older girls 'from the wrong neighbourhood' as her Mom put it," Amanda continued filling in with the details.

"Any camera surveillance or indication in the e-mail what the guy would be driving?"

"None, and there were blind spots in the car park so the security cameras don't even show her there," Amanda replied as they made their way to the conference room together.

"Sounds like Terry had done his home work then," remarked Spencer sadly.

"Yeah that's what we think aswell," said Tony hearing them approach, "But Jessica was wearing a distinctive red and silver jacket with her jeans… A highway patrol officer heard the 'Amber Alert' when he got home after midnight …he was running late because he'd stopped to finish the paper work following a drunk driver incident. Poor guy just wanted a conscience free weekend because it's his wedding anniversary tomorrow. Anyway, he recognised the girl as being with a car that had stopped with a puncture, about 10 miles this side of Annapolis. There were two guys changing the wheel on the side of the road and the girl was just standing watching them. He stopped and asked if everything was all right but they said that they were almost finished. The officer asked about the girl and their destination and one of the men said she was his sister and they were headed for Bethesda where their Mom was in hospital following a stroke."

"He spoke to the girl aswell?" asked Spencer for clarification and wanted to know how she had appeared.

"Oh yeah, she said their Mom was real fat and it wasn't much of a surprise…The officer thought she was a callous little filly," added Tony, "But he's got nearly 20 years behind him and didn't like it that's why he remembered her. Then he got called to an accident and had to leave them."

"Please tell me he's with an artist," said Spencer savouring the caffeine that was beginning to help his tired brain.

"Yes, you can interview him yourself, he drove over to us as soon as we contacted him," Carl said smiling, "So we may have something but we're waiting for Rick to track the e-mail from Terry…"

"How long ago was this sighting?"

"A little after four, not long after his shift started," said Katie, " but I got the call 40 minutes ago from Carl who had been contacted by Dover police. Officer Hurley's information was given to them initially…But it does tie in with the story of a friend in the Washington area and he gave us a partial number plate to work on for the red Toyota, a Camry and a 2005 version….Robert's just got in and is working on it.."

"They have nearly nine hours on us from that sighting but the Amber Alert has been put out on all stations in the Washington area so unless they have got to their safe place then we may get lucky." said Spencer thoughtfully.

"At least they contacted us as soon as they realised an internet link," said Carl, "It does mean that our work with other enforcement agencies is paying off but Dover Police were hindered by the girl's friends not telling them things."

Rick came in, all business with his brisk stride.

"Terry I think is also known on-line as Graham23boz and StevieBoyzone…gave false addresses for all three names but I've a suspicion because of the description Officer Hurley gave to me that he's a known offender who has gone missing…."

"Not the Idaho area again?" remarked Carl in frustration.

"Look it's a big state, if someone wants to go missing there's a lot of space to do so. That's the whole problem, we live in a big country and unless we microchip these guys like we do our animals …we're never going to keep tract of them," said Rick.

"Civil liberties…end of argument," said Katie firmly to stop any tirade forming and intent on keeping people focused.

"I want to try him with some pictures but we thought getting the artist with him first was important and we have him with Gavin, he's excellent at teasing out details." Rick said and went to get a mug of coffee and emptied the jug.

"I'll make some more," offered Amanda and set about the task.

"Dover said that this is the second girl this month to go missing with an on-line friend but the other girl, Wendy Dees, was supposed to be meeting a girlfriend," said Katie to Spencer specifically and to remind everyone else there, "So this may or may not have something to do with this case but Wendy has not been found."

"You think we may have stumbled on to something?" asked Tony.

"I don't know, these teenagers are so trusting with their personal information on line no matter how much schools try to educate them about being aware that the internet is a dangerous place where people can be who they want to be. You know life was a lot simpler when I was a teenager," said Katie and shook her head ruefully saying, "I'm feeling old people, just ignore me."

"On the surface it appears a totally different M.O.," said Spencer, "Although Wendy could have been tricked into meeting a man masquerading as a teenage girl or she met up with a woman who had her own issues or was fishing for a male partner."

The room's eyes all turned to look at him, none of them liked to think that women would get involved in these sort of abductions but they also knew that it did sometimes occur more frequently than the media was willing to acknowledge.

Gavin came in with two computer-aided photofits in his hand, "Pleasure to deal with an observant witness," he said as he handed the pictures to Katie and Tony and Rick were suddenly alert.

"Rick, you maybe right…I think this guy has gone missing from the north-west area and an alert is out from the sex offenders register," Tony said, "I'll get some pictures pulled and we'll try them on this guy…Do you want to speak with him Spencer?"

"Yeah where do you have him?"

"Interview 5 and I think he deserves some decent coffee," said Gavin gazing at the machine hopefully.

"I'll bring some along," said Katie as she eyed the machine gurgling away.

Spencer made his way to the room, his mind beginning to turn over the known facts of the case.

"Officer Hurley," he said with a slight smile, "I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, I've just come to work here recently so please excuse me if I may go over things that my colleagues have already spoken to you about. Katie is going to bring you some percolated coffee when the machine has processed the next jug," Spencer had proffered his hand and it was shaken by a man who was almost as thin as himself and a couple of inches taller. His blond hair was cropped close and he had steady grey eyes that had dark shadows under them revealing his lack of sleep.

"Wow we don't usually get that stuff at my precinct," Ken Hurley replied but he had to admit these people were treating him well and were as conscientious as himself over this missing child.

"Apparently, Katie usually makes it when we're called in…especially when we were expecting to have an off duty weekend, like tonight, it works wonders for the morale," he confessed and Hurley nodded his understanding.

"I was interested that you spoke to the girl you saw…" Spencer primed the officer for a response.

"It was on the US-50 going west out of Annapolis and I hoped they were all right, but she looked underage to be with a couple of guys who looked a good 10 years older despite her make-up. But she seemed totally at ease with the men and her replies were …callous…it's the only word for it. I'd like to think if my wife was ill in hospital that our daughter wouldn't talk like that. But then the men had almost completed their task and I got a call to attend a vehicle accident that ended up being pretty nasty and time-consuming…it was a priority so I had to go. She didn't seem distressed or nervy…"

So you felt she knew them?"

"Yeah, and she could have been their kid sister…and the men joined in the remarks about the fat Mom…that wasn't nice. But like I said, I got called to an accident."

Katie appeared with a mug of freshly percolated coffee.

"Ma'am that smells good!"

"We're grateful for your professionalism, Officer Hurley, as you know time matters in missing children cases," Katie replied, and she was about to leave but Hurley asked a question…

"You people know these guys?" Spencer was aware that Hurley had picked up on the delaying tactic.

"The pictures you helped produce have triggered some activity so I hope you'll stay a little longer because we're certain you did see Jessica and one of the men may be a known offender but he's far from his last known address," Katie replied.

"I've got a daughter myself, she's 18, but it's not easy being a parent these days…Girls just want to grow up so quickly and it's so hard to keep a line of communication when they hit puberty…"

Katie nodded with understanding, "We see too many in our line of work and we know the schools try to educate their students about the dangers on the internet chat rooms but there's no telling some of them."

"No, they think they can handle the big world and I think we felt a little like that too but the world is a lot more complicated than when we were young," Hurley reflected as he savoured the coffee. It was proving to be a very long shift for him, normally he'd be home just after 11 on this shift and in bed by midnight.

"She a good boss?" Hurley asked softly after Katie had left.

Spencer nodded, "Katie's very committed and good at her work, I know that she'll be working hard on this and more of the unit is being pulled back as we speak. But we have had a very fortunate break with your sighting and you gave us the car make and part of the number plate…It's a real plus tonight."

"My wife knew it was going to be one of those weekends as soon as I rang and said I was clearing my paperwork…I didn't even listen to the radio on the way home. But Brenda had the t.v. on as I came in and the Amber Alert came up, I'd just got my shoes off," Hurley shook his head ruefully. "Sorry I couldn't remember all the number plate but I know it was our state and I remembered some of the digits because it was my son's birthday. But I was sure about the make and it was a newer model with a re-designed bumper and new headlights."

"You did really well considering that it wasn't an incident you had to record and you were called away to something far more urgent. No, really!" Reid stressed wanting to acknowledge this man's contribution, "As you know we have a lot more now to work on than we have on some cases. Tell me about the men…"

"Well, they looked to be in their mid-twenties and both had reasonable looking clothes, nothing too expensive but nothing obviously cheap either. Made me think that they might have a trade or regular work. One of them, I think he was called Terry, had hands that looked a little rough but the other had softer looking hands that even looked manicured by comparison. The shoes were leather but not the latest style, more like last year's sales and the heels were worn down and toes scuffed for both of them. Their speech was articulate enough…very smooth as they picked up on the girl's story of the overweight Mom…you know like they were good at thinking on their feet when I think about it now."

Spencer nodded with understanding, this man's experience on the job was tipping the balance in their favour.

A few minutes later Rick joined them with a thin folder of photographs.

"Hello again and thanks for staying. We've distributed the pictures to get things moving but Tony and I thought one looked familiar so we've put together some faces…"

"Sure, let me see," replied Hurley and Rick and Spencer shared a look of hope between them.

"Yeah, this guy was called Terry," Hurley said pointing to a photograph at the beginning of the third line, "His hair is cut shorter now, longer than mine but like that other agent here who looks a bit Japanese, like I got the artist to produce on the computer."

Hurley turned on to the next page and carefully scanned the faces and then turned on to the third page. Suddenly he pointed to a face in the middle of the first line, "Him, he's very like the other guy but he's got darker hair than this but not as dark as Terry's," he said looking up into Rick's closed expression.

"Thank you very much, I know you will understand if I tell you that you have been a great help and if Spencer's finished with you …"

"Officer Hurley," Spencer picked up smoothly, "Thank you for your patience and I hope you and your wife have a weekend that remains uninterrupted so you can enjoy your anniversary. I'll take you back and find someone to escort you out."

Spencer joined the others in the conference room after asking Claire to take the Officer down to the main reception.

"Jeez, Terry is Douglas Leith, 25, he's on the sex offenders register and last known living in Boise, Idaho, but he's not been seen for almost a year," said Tony and Spencer caught Carl's look of disgust that he was right about the state.

Tony continued, "The other guy is also on the register, real name is Frederick Cooper, 23, but has also used Frank Close, Fred Chapman and Fulton Childe…they have not been marked up as known associates before but if Hurley's correct then these two have teamed up. Cooper's from Iowa City and last known address had been Fargo, North Dakota. He has not been seen for four months."

"Do either have an occupation?" asked Spencer intrigued if Hurley's observations were pertinent.

"Leith used to be a builder, worked originally for his uncle until his conviction for photographing naked pubescent girls and he liked to touch them but none were raped. This is the first time he's shown up working a chat room site. Cooper was an arts major student helping with a summer school project and then got too close to the 12 year olds he was tutoring at tennis and badminton. No rape but wanted the girls to masturbate him" Tony summarised.

"What's the chances of their behaviour escalating?" Spencer asked this experienced group to test his own initial thoughts about the two men.

"Cooper was 19 when convicted and he lost his college place and all chance of future work as a teacher which was his preferred career. He's been disowned by his family and had been employed in a store selling computer equipment. I would say he's more likely to escalate than Leith who on the surface is a photographer who liked to touch breasts not genitals. However, if he is Terry then he's using chat rooms to meet his prey and he got Jessica to send a photograph to him. Cooper wanted the girls to masturbate him so he's more likely to go further, wanting more from the young teen. Leith seems to have kept to collecting porn magazines and videos with youthful breasts…he doesn't seem into penetration or getting the girls to personally touch him. However, he may still like to photograph and that might include a friend with a partner." Katie coolly appraised the two men. "They both like the young teen form, under developed but sexually attractive. Past girl friends have been the waif type, small build, slender hips, small breasts…so they are continuing to follow to a type here."

"Carl has got the alert out for both men and the description of the car. Robert traced the car to a hire company in Baltimore…hired by a Fred Chapman, false address, false license…the usual," said Rick, "Now we have to wait for a sighting or some tip off… We might get lucky and so far it has been going in our favour."

The team of agents waited for any leads to come in, the media were all helping with the information about the car and the photographs of the two men. There was always the risk that the men would panic and the victim end up dead but it was a calculated risk that had to be taken in the effort to find Jessica alive. Neither men had shown physical violence towards the young girls they had used in the past, so the team didn't think they would kill Jessica, but were more likely to dump her terrified and somewhere isolated on this frosty night.

Meanwhile, Spencer spent the waiting time with the men learning more about these two suspects and their other known associates. Both had served prison sentences but they had been light because none of the girls had been raped and they had both been model prisoners and released early. Although on the sex offenders register both had kept a low profile and because they were not an apparent problem had quietly slipped away and had now probably turned up in their area.

The Delaware office had the two local CACU trained agents with Jessica's mother and they were being kept up to date with developments. Spencer was pleased that the funding for this unit had not been affected by the financial cuts and the Bureau still had at least two agents in every field office that was trained to deal with CACU cases. Katie had made a point of meeting all of them personally during her years in the post so that when cases like this ocurred they smoothly went into action.

It was 6:27 when Amanda took the call; they had a tip from a woman, Eileen Moss, who said that she worked in a Baltimore realtor's. She was sure that a man called Frederick Chapman had come in a month ago and was renting a small house on the road to Riverdale Park. Moss had remembered him because it was a lonely property, set well apart from the other houses on the road, and usually it was difficult to find tenants for it. Katie thought the fact that the man had been using the name Fred Chapman was enough to get a search warrant and Roy felt he had a judge who would help that early in the morning. Robert used his skills to confirm an address for the company's rented housing in the area and Katie was organising things with the local police. It might be a false alarm but they had to check it out and it was close enough to get moving quickly. Danielle arrived at 6:40 to look after things back at the office and people and personnel were smoothly mustered for the operation.

Spencer found himself in the SUV being driven by Katie, along with Tony and Rick while Carl was driving Claire and Amanda. Corinne and Adele followed in their favourite SUV, it was something of a joke in the unit that Corinne was not the best of drivers but this vehicle was the one that she claimed understood her driving style. They quietly met up with the local police and it was decided that the house would be surrounded by the police and FBI personnel while Rick and Carl would go in if the door bell was unanswered.

They waited a half a mile away for the search warrant to arrive. Meanwhile, Carl and Amanda did a drive past to see if there was a red Toyota Camry in the drive.

Amanda described what they saw, "Katie I can see the red car, same plates as Robert thought and there is also a Ford Taurus…it's being identified by Robert as we speak so we may have more than we expect…."

Carl suddenly took over, "Katie the Ford is registered to a Henry Duke, Baltimore address. Robert says he's an unknown, clean sheet so far, works as a computer programmer for City Hall. The house looks quiet and it's a bit apart from the others along the road like the lady said. I can understand why it was a bit difficult to rent out, I'm not sure I'd like to be here in the winter months."

Katie and Spencer exchanged looks, someone else at City Hall besides Sayers and Spencer wondered if Henry would be amongst those in the photos and film material that Gerald and Nigel had gathered from Rankin's venue.

Roy smoothly arrived and they were suddenly all ready for action. It was still quite dark with just a streak in the sky promising a dawn. It was over 15 hours since Jessica had last been seen. Katie issued her orders so her people knew their roles, They all put protective vests on, they didn't expect violence but it was standard procedure and Tony got the handheld battering ram out of the car boot.

Carl and Rick stood on the doorstep and waited. Rick had pressed the buzzer firmly for the third time, a light had finally gone on in the hall but the door was not immediately opened although they now heard someone turning keys and slipping bolts. Finally, the door opened on a chain, and a dishevelled blond haired woman peered through the gap.

"FBI, Fred Chapman in?" Rick clearly said showing his badge.

"What? Fred's asleep…What is it?" she asked irritably and trying to take in the sudden appearance of the FBI at the door.

"We have a search warrant Ma'am, Will you please open the door…"

"Police! Stand still, or I'll let the dog go!" a commanding voice could be heard from the back of the house.

"Games up, lady, let us in or we'll break the door…" Rick stated firmly.

"Give me a moment…I'm not putting up any resistance remember that…"

She closed the door to take off the chain and suddenly they were inside, Spencer following behind together with Katie and the female agents. Claire and Corinne stayed close to this woman who they could now see was dressed in a pale blue sweat shirt and dove grey jogging bottoms. She looked to be in her early twenties and wore no make-up or any shoes at that moment.

"Where's Jessica?" Katie demanded.

"Nothing to do with me…I just got home, I work nights at the Silver Bear Club in Annapolis. I think Fred is with Terry and Hank in the cellar…they said they were going to have a boys night in."

With their guns at the ready, they went cautiously down the steps the woman had indicated off the entrance hallway. It was very quiet; Tony and Rick made their way first followed by Katie then Amanda and finally Spencer and Carl bringing up the rear. At the bottom of the stairs there was just one light bulb glowing but it gave enough light to show three doors, one straight ahead and two on the right.

Rick and Tony stood either side of the first door on the right, Rick reached out and slowly moved the handle…the door swung open and they carefully edged their way in shining their flashlights.

Tony emerged and said quietly, "Clear…just storage," and the two men proceeded to the next door and repeated the opening procedure. But immediately through this door there was another one that was locked. The two men looked at Katie who firmly nodded her head and the pair turned to Reid who had carried in the hand-held battering ram. Tony and Spencer held the battering ram together and thrust the heavy metal equipment against the wooden door with their joint strength. It soon gave way and the Spencer stepped back with the equipment to allow the two older men to step over the splinters. They immediately saw the surprised shape of a man with his hands already raised in submission and his clothes showing the signs of being put on too quickly with the shirt cuffs and most of the shirt buttons undone and only one shoe with properly tied up laces. He kept looking towards another corner of the room but said nothing.

Following the man's gaze they saw the second man in the room who seemed to be intent on gathering his filming equipment together. Neither of these men looked towards the bed piled with covers, but it was this that was attracting Katie's attention while the two men were being cuffed and their rights read to them. Spencer recognised Douglas Leith, who was the Terry, and he heard the other man identify himself as Henry Duke. But then his attention was turned to the bed as Katie threw the covers aside to reveal the unconscious looking naked body of a young pubescent girl. However, she looked nothing like the be-freckled Jessica who they had been trying to find. Amanda was checking her pulse while Reid was calling for an ambulance and noted that the Latino looking girl appeared to be drugged and from the state of the bedding and stains, charges of statutory rape at the very least were on the cards.

"She's alive but so drugged up that's she's incoherent," Katie remarked, "Who is she?" Katie demanded of the two men.

"Ask Fred…It wasn't important to me, I was just here to record," replied Leith.

"Where's Jessica?" she asked him but the man just shrugged.

"That's Fred's business," Leith said already trying to distance himself from the other known offender.

"No it's not…we know that you are the Terry from the chat room where you groomed Jessica," Katie said calmly.

"Look, Fred was there all the way, telling me what to say in that chat room…He introduced me to it as an easy way to meet the sweet girls," Leith replied already laying blame on the other man involved.

"There's still another room," Spencer reminded them as the police secured the scene and Amanda stayed with the unknown victim.

Tony went ahead with Rick and went through the door procedure once more but this door was unlocked and opened on to another dimly lit room and they could see another bed and an open cellar window.

"That's where Chapman tried to escape," Katie remarked as she moved towards the bed of this much colder room. On the bed lay spread-eagled the naked Jessica with her hands tied with bandages to the brass headboard, her ankles tied in a similar fashion to the end board. She was gagged but her eyes were wide and darting around like a terrified animal. Her body looked cold with goose pimples mottling the white be-freckled skin.

Spencer picked up the bed throw and Katie spread it over her vulnerable body.

"Jessica it's all right you're safe now, we're from the FBI. My name is Katie and we have to get you to the hospital. Spencer is going to help me untie these restraints, and I'll start with your gag."

Katie moved with compassion and a surety of experience, gently untying the gag and the girl at first was unable to speak with the overwhelming emotions flooding her mind and fought to stop a sob.

"It's all right," Katie soothed as she began on the wrist ties, and Spencer tackled the ones on her ankles. He could hear the ambulances in the distance and he knew that the victim with Amanda would be their priority. He hoped that she would be able to tell them who she was soon, he didn't believe that she looked anything like the missing Wendy Dees. Reid had dealt with the rescues of other abductions and sexually motivated crimes but it always had a deeper effect when the victim was a child, even if in this case the child's own wilful actions had put her at risk.

Suddenly the ambulance crew were in the room and Katie was talking softly, re-assuring Jessica that she was going with her to the hospital and everything was going to be better now and they would be sending a message back to her Mom that she was safe.

More FBI personnel had arrived to secure and process the scene and the local police felt a satisfaction at being able to be a part of a successful operation. The three men and one woman would be taken back to College Park for formal questioning. Roy entered the house after the ambulances had left.

"Any idea who the other girl is?" he asked Rick.

"No she was out of it, Amanda accompanied her to the hospital where they'll do a tox screen and rape assessment but the two men weren't talking. Then there's Jessica, we think Cooper, or Fred Chapman as he was calling himself here, had been in with her and tried to escape through the window but she's pretty traumatised."

"Spencer have you informed Robert to contact our agents in Dover?" Carl asked.

"Already dealt with, " he replied with a nod in Carl's direction.

"Sorry, just didn't want you to get in to trouble with Katie…"

"No offence taken, " he said with a smile, "I confess to being very tired so I'm glad you checked. I really hoped that I'd get some sleep this weekend."

"Yeah, you've really been thrown in at the deep end, what are our orders?" Carl asked.

"Secure the crime scene, forensics know their job in the house and I've told the agents to search carefully for hidden pornographic material and to get it back to the unit as fast as possible. For us, its back to the unit to question the accused…Who was the woman who opened the door?"

"Claire said she's a Nina Minchin, friend of Chapman or Cooper as we know him," said Roy, "Claire was listening carefully to her and she gave me one of her looks that means she reckons she'll be easy to break not wanting to go down with these men."

"Right, I'll let Claire lead with that one," said Spencer, "Tony are you eager to question Leith or do you want Cooper/Chapman?"

"I'll take Leith and lean on him about his activities as Terry," Tony said with a quietness that told Spencer that Tony's years of experience were going to be turned on this individual.

"You want to have a go with breaking Chapman if I take the new guy?" he said to Rick.

Rick nodded and they left to join the accused for the short drive back to College Park.

Danielle had organised the interview rooms, all the suspects had insisted on lawyers but the CACU personnel had caught them with two under aged girls. The Scene of Crime search teams had turned up further digital cameras, another camcorder and a locked cupboard full of pubescent porn before the suspects had left the premises.

Henry Duke sat with his lawyer in Interview Room 3 and Spencer entered and introduced himself again for the lawyer's benefit.

"Mr. Duke, have you ever been in trouble with the law before?" began Spencer quietly, observing the man sitting nervously opposite him. He was of a similar age to Spencer and quite neat and tidy in his appearance, in fact he was very ordinary looking with neatly cut mousy hair, clean-shaven and pleasant looking in his blue small checked shirt and faded blue jeans.

"No…not like this, just the odd parking ticket and one speeding offence when at college." He stared nervously at Spencer and then dropped his eyes to focus on the standard FBI folder that Reid knew included all the personal information that Danielle and Robert could find on this man.

"So do you go to many clubs…to watch the girls?" asked Spencer.

"Look, I don't normally do things like this, I've got a good job at City Hall in Baltimore. My girlfriend's a teacher in Silver Springs…I'm usually just a normal guy, you know I like to go and watch girls dance…I like bars where there's pole dancers…there's nothing wrong in that. But this was new tonight, it was Fred's idea, he said he was going to have a private party with a couple of girls…"

Spencer looked hard at his lawyer, "I've informed my client to co-operate fully as this is his first arrest…My client insists that he didn't know these girls before this evening," the young lawyer stated looking very professional in his dark blue suit and striped red and grey tie. He was clean shaven and mousy haired like the accused and their hands looked as if neither had ever done any hard manual work.

"Ah, yes, do you know the girl's name…the one on the bed in the room, drugged out of her mind?" asked Spencer softly and his brown eyes concentrated on Duke's every nuance.

"Hey, I didn't give her any drugs, she was a bit drowsy when I …" he stopped and looked towards the young lawyer who was trying his best to keep up a professional appearance but Spencer could sense his revulsion towards his client. Scott Hamilton had been called in from the Public Defender's Office and Reid thought that he couldn't have been long out of Law School.

"Mr. Duke," the lawyer said softly, "It would be best if you fully co-operated now and then that will go in your favour," he repeated the advice.

"Look there were a couple of other guys, they were already there when I arrived and they called her Vikki. Fred took me to the room in the basement and Terry was filming their three-some…"

"Three-some?" Spencer repeated although he could well imagine the scenario.

"You know, Kev was entering her vagina…Mick the back passage…" he reluctantly explained.

"Mick had anal sex with Vikki," clarified Reid.

"Yeah…" and Duke swallowed several times, "I don't like that myself…it's not natural."

Spencer saw the lawyer stare hard at the table as he was obviously struggling with his own emotions.

"With or without condoms?" Spencer quietly pressed totally unmoved on the outside and his professionalism was firmly in place and was keeping any disgust he was feeling internally under control…

Duke looked pale, "Without…Fred said it would be a good evening to do things bare back if we knew that we were clean."

"And you joined in?"

"Not in a three-some…I watched. I've only ever watched girls before, like Terry. But then Fred said that I could have a private session with the girls and Terry could be trusted to record the pleasure I would have. So I did it on my own and the other guys weren't there watching. Terry filmed me and said only I'd have the film…to remember the experience by," Spencer kept his face as neutral as possible but this was typical sex offender behaviour. Photographs of themselves involved in sex acts, or film, was a lasting pleasure that they could look at when ever they wished and often used as an aid to masturbation.

"Did you also have sex with the other girl?"

Duke squirmed a little, "Hey she was all for it, we watched her with Fred, she seemed relaxed about it all."

"Did you see Fred or Terry or any one else give either of them any drugs?"

"No …Fred gave them fruit juice through the evening but we did leave them alone with Fred…We, the other two men and myself, watched some of Terry's other films…"

By midday on Saturday, Spencer Reid felt exhausted and sick of the job. Henry Duke made what he called a full statement and Roy sat outside and listened.

When Spencer came out Roy said bluntly, "Do you believe him?"

"I think that is probably what happened tonight but he's done this sort of thing before. You know it was the usual…I've never done anything like this before… Passing on the blame for being there, in this case to Fred but he's one of Gerald's attendees."

Roy nodded, "Does he know that we know that?"

"No because I made no mention of Rankin's club and he didn't say anything about it either. Claims he meet Fred at the Silver Bear Club where they have good pole dancers. He was scared at being caught but he's got no idea who Kev and Mick are and I need to discuss with Katie about showing him any photos of people we haven't identified yet."

"Yes, that's wise for now, we're got time to approach him over that besides he indicated that Terry filmed the other men's activities but so far we haven't found that evidence."

"Terry is not the sort of person to just give the men the films, what did the camcorders reveal?"

"Just Duke with Vikki and Jessica and Fred, nothing on the other two men Duke claims were there," answered Roy

"They could have each brought their own camcorders which Terry operated for them for a fee," suggested Reid as they walked back towards the conference room.

"Do we know who Vikki is yet?" asked Spencer as he walked into the room and found several other agents in the conference room eating various take away dishes. He steered away from the Chinese food and headed for the pizza slices.

Danielle looked up, "She's still unconscious, she had been given something, gin and then cocaine. A sample of her hair has been taken to get a more accurate measure of the drugs taken over a period of time. So far the missing children's data bases haven't identified her so we are waiting for the DNA profile and we'll run with that when we get it back from the lab. It's the weekend and backlogs…you know the usual!"

"Yeah," Spencer acknowledged wearily and thought that this was one of the worst weeks he had experienced in a long time.

Katie suddenly walked in, "Thanks everyone for your support on what was supposed to be an easy weekend. This is what we know so far…Jessica has confirmed that she had agreed to meet Terry/Leith and she'd lied about her age because that's what Lynne told her to do…Lynne is one of her older friends who Mom didn't like…So Terry/Leith thought she was 15 not 13 but that still makes her under age. He's claiming that it was just a private party with Duke and Chapman/Cooper…no mention of the two guys Duke spoke of…They must be 'special' for this pair to protect them… Terry/Leith says that he didn't know the Vikki girl …she was there already and as far as he knew that she was Chapman's little Honey. Jessica says that she felt all right at first with Terry and Fred. Terry/Leith had been chatting on-line with her for some weeks so she was well groomed. But then they had stopped at Fred's home to get a drink and something to eat before hitting a party in Washington…The drink was obviously drugged and the next she knew was that she was tied to the bed and three men were touching her and another taking photographs. She wanted to call out but she couldn't and everything seems blurred and she can't remember properly…So she has a vague memory of four men…"

Rohypnol?" suggested Danielle.

"I thought it would be that but the tox screen says GHB," said Katie.

"Gamma hydroxybutyric acid leaves the body faster…in 12 hours where as Rohypnol can still be detected in the urine for upto 72 hours," Spencer automatically informed the group.

Katie nodded in acknowledgement of the facts at his fingertips.

"Exactly, but the hospital is sure its GHB and there were still just traces of it. The rape examination revealed extensive physical trauma, she has been torn inside her vagina and anally. These guys didn't use condoms so we might get lucky with DNA…although things might get complicated with the number of men involved. Do you want to continue about the woman, Claire?"

"The woman, Nina Minchin who let us in, hasn't been very helpful. Claims she had no idea what was going on down in the cellar …she just thought it was the men having a few beers and watching porn films and not hurting anyone. Minchin did seem genuinely revolted that two under age girls were down there and she was distancing herself fast. She works behind the bar in a disco in Annapolis but doesn't seem to be associated with Rankin in any way at the moment and in fact has no record other than two parking tickets last year. She met Fred/Cooper when he came to the place she works, the Silver Bear Club, and they struck up a friendship a couple of months ago. He didn't seem to mind her having to work evenings and she'd no suspicions about him liking young girls. She assures me that their sex life was normal and good as far as she's concerned."

"She's got a waif like figure though hasn't she?" said Tony.

"Oh yeah…the usual, she's his cover for a normal sex life…" Claire cynically confirmed.

They concluded that they were awaiting forensic evidence. Cooper wasn't being very co-operative and Leith appeared to have played his usual 'watcher and filming role' but both of these men denied any other men were involved other than Duke.

Katie, Danielle, Roy and Spencer went to Katie's office for a few minutes after Katie had sent everyone home for some sleep as things didn't seem to be moving very fast and they had to give the forensics people time to work their magic.

"I'll be very surprised if they'll get bail especially as both Leith and Cooper had failed to keep to the terms of the sex offenders register. Duke might though but I'm going to oppose it," said Roy.

"If he does get bail I want him watched in case those two other men, whom I'm sure exist, try to make contact with him," said Katie, "Do you agree Spencer?"

"Definitely, if they are powerful enough to keep Leith and Cooper silent about their existence then they must be of some importance…What shall we do about Duke and showing him some of the Rankin's clientele to see if the two mystery men are amongst them?"

"I want to see what happens over his arraignment first…if he's detained. We'll send Gavin to get some sketches and see if they are familiar first, we can always show him a few faces later next week," replied Katie, "I would feel a bit happier about our raid this morning if we could identify our little Jane Doe but I don't like the fact that she has Latino looks….It raises the possibility of her coming from a family of illegal immigrants and they've not reported her missing to save being found out themselves."

Spencer didn't like that suggestion. He unconsciously put his hands in his pockets and stood looking down at the floor thinking about the sort of financial pressures that would force a family to even do such a thing. Then his tired mind roamed over the nature of his present work. It wasn't just the long-term emotional effects of sexual abuse. For the two girls they had rescued, or any rape victim, there would be all the post rape testing. The days and weeks of waiting to see if they had been infected with whatever strain of hepatitis, then there were the HIV/Aids tests along with the usual STD's that people thought were easily treatable…the gonorrhoea, syphilis and the ever rising incidence of chlamydia.

"Spencer," Katie's voice summoned him out of his own thoughts and he looked up to find her looking at him with older searching eyes. "I'm sorry to say that such a scenario is not totally made up. We also know families who have prostituted out their own children but then that's not confined to illegal immigrants…drugs can totally destroy a parent's sense of morality if they have a habit to feed and they are offered good money for their child."

"Christ, Katie how do you find out about these things?" asked Spencer as his professional mask slipped with his tiredness. It was one thing to read about child abuse it was another to be working on the front line trying to catch the perpetrators.

"Unfortunately usually by chance because the children rarely tell. The abusers tell them they'll harm them and their family if they do talk…We walk down very dark paths but we do have our successes just like the BAU. Now go home to your Jo and make up for the disruption of the plans you had for this weekend…We'll call people in if things begin to move but I doubt anything will happen before Monday now."

Katie smiled at him and Spencer sensed in that act an unsaid apology.

"We didn't have any actual plans Katie…my priority was to get some sleep. Jo is used to the BAU interrupting our life together and she can keep herself occupied…She has already met the immediate neighbours and she has buried herself into making the house a home…so I bet she's been exploring the area for craft shops and the like. Jo just has an eye for things and will often buy some household accessory and will take it to the Fairfax warehouse to be used later. But if that's it for today then I will go and try and wind down."

"We all need to," admitted Katie reaching for her coat and car keys, "Come on lets all escape while we can."

"It's all right for some but I've got to make some court appearances," Roy moaned but he thought these agents all needed some well-deserved rest.

Spencer drove carefully home, aware that he was doing a lot of yawning, it was nearly 3 o'clock as he turned into their street. As Spencer approached the house he saw a familiar car parked in the drive. He locked the Lexus and headed for the front door which opened as he approached.

"Surprize Uncle Spenzor!" Lydia called out to him and he grinned in response to her broad smile and fizzing enthusiasm. The depressing scenes of the earlier hours melted away before this dazzling ray of normality.

"Hello, have you eaten all the ice cream?" he asked as they shared this pleasure and always seemed to fit ice cream into any visit.

"No…but I had a big dish after lunch. Auntie Jo said the rest of the vanilla tub was for you 'cos you've been very good."

"Have you met Auntie Jo's new bear?" he asked catching the amused look of Melinda who had opened the front door for her daughter.

Lydia grinned and giggled, "He's called Albert!"

Spencer closed the front door and entered the house that now seemed full of children's toys and the warm presence of Craig and Melinda.

"Craig's professional eyes noted Spencer's signs of tiredness but he also saw that his friend was genuinely delighted to see them. Spencer's enormous sensitive eyes were shining with delight as Lydia came over to him with her own reading book and to demonstrate that could now read a few words. Ben crawled over to Spencer and the three of them sat together on the living room floor as Lydia proudly read and showed her uncle her new book. Craig glanced up and saw the soft far away look of his little sister as she stood by the glass doors into the dining room. Melinda caught his eye and smiled, they were a close family and this was what Spencer needed with the stresses of his work.

Craig's family left at nearly 7 o'clock for their drive home but Spencer had to admit, as he took a lazy bath, that seeing them had been a great surprise and just playing with happy children had helped him get his work of that day into perspective. He thought about Katie Cole and how 'highly strung' she was at times and how she had not mentioned a partner at home. He had asked Danielle quietly on Tuesday about Katie's off duty life…

"As far as I can make out, Katie is career woman who was briefly married in her late 20's for about 5 years and then she divorced him…I heard that he got his lover pregnant so he wanted the family set up. Katie has relationships, some men last longer than others. Joseph lasted over three years but they broke up about 6 months ago now and she just carried on as if nothing had happened while here at work. I know Liam Hegatty, he was the Senior Psych here who retired recently, and his deputy, James Udell, were very supportive of her and she would go and have chats with them. But to my knowledge she never said anything deeply personal about the break up with anyone in the unit. With the Christmas Party coming up it will be interesting to see if she is seen with anyone."

It was interesting to Spencer that Katie was concerned that her staff had stable lives outside work and preferably someone to go home to. Perhaps she did have a strong circle of friends to take her mind off the job but not a partner at that moment. He thought about the 'queen bee', as Danielle had called her, and Spencer had an uneasy feeling about the woman but perhaps it was just his own tiredness and reluctance to be in this placement.

He got out of the bath and pulled the plug and began to mechanically dry himself with the soft royal blue towel. Spencer suddenly felt the need to lie down wash over him and thought that the lavender oil was definitely having a relaxing effect on him. He made his way into the bedroom where Jo was siting up in bed reading a biography of Marie Stopes that she had found in a second hand bookshop in College Park that morning.

Spencer slipped under the sheets and felt warm and content. Jo finished the page and reached for her embroidered bookmark before putting the book down on the bedside table. She reached for the bedside light switch and the room was suddenly calmly dark and welcomed him into a deep sleep.

Hundreds of miles away, a much older man was longing for sleep but he could not find any peace of mind to achieve such a blissful state….

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

**The Interregnum: Chapter 5 **

**by Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Jason Gideon lay on his back staring at the blackness of the room engulfing him, it was like a black womb he thought but it was not comforting because it was a prison where in his darkest memories re-surfaced. He had run away from the work he could no longer confront each day and he had decided to speak with his only child, before he took a different path, in the hope that he would be able to leave with a clear conscience. Gideon had talked to his old Rabbi before he left Quantico about his possible future paths. Isaac had always shared his own wisdom over the years and Gideon was grateful for his understanding now and he was once more heading back to Isaac's home.

He had tried his best with Stephen but there was an invisible barrier that Gideon had failed to breech, however, he knew that it was his fault in the first place that his only child was so defensive towards him. Stephen's mother had been closer and understood their son and had been more willing to embrace the life Stephen lived…..

Gideon had driven steadily northwards to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. It was a vibrant place tingling with young people and academics experimenting with ideas and trying to enthuse a new generation to carry the baton of learning forward. He had never actually visited Stephen's home since he moved here, the last time they had met Stephen had still been enjoying life at Cornell and the cultural delights that New York could offer. Gideon turned into the leafy street and eyed the pleasant brownstone building and searched for a parking space. He had to walk back to the building and now he stood before the plate of doorbells momentarily frozen with indecision. Perhaps he should have rung first... Perhaps he shouldn't have come at all.

'Coward!' mocked his inner self, ' You have to see him, it is your parental duty to see your only child before you leave.'

Gideon's index finger hovered over the third buzzer and then suddenly he pressed it hard, the decision made his heart race, a part of him hoping no one was at home.

"Yes?" the voice over the intercom said and Gideon was shaken that it was not Stephen's.

"It's Jason Gideon, Stephen's father," he said as calmly as he could but he was not sure how he was going to handle this if Stephen was not there.

"Come on up," the surprised voice answered and Gideon heard the click of the door catch being released and he pushed the door open and entered. He took the elevator to the third floor and willed himself to be friendly with Stephen's partner. Gideon left the elevator and was confronted by two apartment doors but one suddenly opened. There in the doorway stood Alex, just as he remembered him the last time they had met, his blond naturally wavy hair was thick and cut neatly but it was still quite long compared to the hair styles Gideon was used to seeing among the men at Quantico. Alex also had a neatly trimmed beard that covered a scar on the left side of his face that was a reminder of a childhood prank but it could not hide the warm smile he was giving the older man.

"Come on in Jason, this is a wonderful surprise. I'm afraid Stephen has library duties until 6 o'clock today but I could ring him and say you are here and he might be able to find someone to cover for him. Are you on a case here?"

"No, infact I'm no longer with the Bureau," he entered the warm apartment and was instantly the profiler dissecting the living space he could see. He was taken into the large living room with its high ceiling that was common in these old buildings. His mind processed the long wall of floor to ceiling shelving covered in books, all neatly arranged as one would expect of his librarian son. In one corner, by a tall narrow window, stood a harpsichord and a long seated stool with a red and gold tapestry covered seat for the player to sit upon. The fireplace was not in use but it had a colourful floral tapestry fire screen placed before the grate. There was an enormous rectangular dark wooden framed mirror mounted above the hearth to reflect light and make the room seem larger. The worn leather couch, with woven throws over the back in bright abstract designs, was placed invitingly opposite the fireplace…

"Come and sit down…Are you all right?" Alex gently asked concerned for the man who had come unannounced and who looked a little disorientated and subdued compared with when they had first met.

Gideon looked up, pulling away from his thoughts about the room, and stared into soft baby blue eyes. They looked gentle and questioning and suited this man's quiet sensitive and very cultured nature.

"I'm sorry, Alex, I've had a long drive…perhaps I shouldn't have come…"

"Don't be so silly, let me make us a drink of tea. Have you eaten?" the younger man asked wondering why this man had driven all this way.

"Oh I had a light lunch at a diner on the way here but tea would be nice," he replied resuming his dissection of the room as Alex turned and passed through an open doorway into what was obviously the kitchen.

Gideon's attention was held by the living room once more. He saw an old teak desk that was covered with papers by the main large window and another desk, of a modern design nearby, where the computer sat. There was an abstract helix image in a mixture of greens and reds lazily twisting across the computer screen. This screensaver caught Gideon's attention for a few minutes and he thought that it might have been the sort of thing Reid would have on his home computer. Beyond, through an alcove type opening, he could see an oval table and dining chairs in a dark wood and the palest of green walls and again he was reminded of Reid's love of green.

Gideon turned his attention once more back to this main room and scanned the walls that did not contain the books. There were prints of paintings, the odd wall hanging from other cultures and photographs hung up to such a degree that you could hardly notice the cream walls…Busy walls, full of colour and life. Gideon was drawn to the photographs of smiling young people, many Gideon didn't know, and several happy ones of Stephen and Alex together.

"Here we are," said Alex arriving with a tray of tea and plates of scones and fruit cake, "Why don't you sit down, Jason…you look tired."

Gideon sank down on the couch while Alex sat to the right of him in a winged high backed green leather chair and placed the tray on the long teak coffee table before them.

"So have you driven all the way up from Washington?" Alex said with amazement colouring his tone.

"Yes, I thought it would give me time to think and not have to make conversation with a talkative fellow passenger," Gideon confessed and Alex's eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Ah, yes the perils of internal flights but it's even worse if it's long haul and you are trapped by the window. There are only so many trips to the washroom and then there is the queue as your fellow passengers are using the same tactic to escape. However, there is always the person in the queue who starts talking to you…and all you really want is to be left to your own thoughts…."

Gideon grinned, Alex was being very kind towards him and he felt guilty. Gideon didn't feel he deserved this consideration.

"Are you well, Jason?" Alex gently asked again genuinely concerned at this man's sudden appearance and unusual quietness. He had always thought the father and son were alike in temperament, perhaps too alike and that was their real problem.

"I'm going away and I wanted to say my goodbyes personally," the older man simply replied.

"Are you going far?" Alex asked intrigued by this turn of events.

"I'm going abroad, I've put my things into storage, but I thought I ought to visit Stephen before I go."

"That was thoughtful of you, so you are going far?" he probed trying to get more information out of this enigmatic man.

"I think I'll talk about that when Stephen arrives if that's all right with you?" Gideon replied and then felt that it sounded far too defensive, "I don't want to have to repeat myself. How's the new job going…do you like it here?" he asked changing the subject back into Alex's court.

"Yes, the Music Department is a wonderfully vibrant place and I have some very talented students on the course. I really enjoy teaching the history and musical practice of the harpsichord and I get to play quite a lot as a continuo…"

The afternoon passed quickly and Gideon relaxed in the presence of this cultured and talented academic. Gideon began to fully appreciate the man now they were able to talk without Stephen being there and they roamed over many subjects beyond the obvious music to art and touched upon Alex's own travels in Europe. They did not hear Stephen arrive as Alex was telling Gideon about getting struck in a snowdrift in the Austrian Alps with ten others on a train who were all memorable characters….

"So this Italian…I swear he was the image of …Stephen!" Alex smiled broadly on seeing him enter the room but Stephen did not return the smile.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded of his father with a stony composure.

Gideon took a deep breath, it was only to be expected he thought but he tried to be conciliatory.

"I've left the Bureau and I'm planning to leave the country and thought I'd come and personally say my goodbyes," the older man said looking at the younger version of himself in height and build, although his hair was a lighter brown and longer.

Stephen eyed his father sensing there was more to this sudden appearance and he thought how much he'd aged since he'd seen him over a year ago.

"I'll go and make some more tea, would you like to stay and share our meal?" Alex asked in his cordial manner.

Gideon looked at his son and sensed that Stephen really wasn't sure about Alex's suggestion.

"Oh, please don't put yourselves out, I came without warning and don't expect to be fed," Gideon smoothly filled the silence of Stephen's stare.

Alex looked at father and son and thought how the atmosphere had suddenly become so hostile compared with the previous few hours of good congenial conversation, but he knew that these two had issues.

"Perhaps I'll just leave you two alone while I make another pot of tea…" he said and picked up the tray and headed for the kitchen.

Stephen sat in Alex's vacant seat, "So why are you really here?"

"I told you, I'm leaving the country and wanted to see you before I leave."

"Why?" the younger man demanded.

"Because you are my only child…I wanted to say goodbye…Wish you a Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas or whatever…" replied Gideon throwing his hands up in exasperation, "Must you always be suspicious of my motives?"

"You weren't exactly welcoming when I plucked up the courage to tell you I was gay," Stephen replied defensively, "I expected a lot more understanding but do you only show compassion and understanding to the victims you come across in your work?"

Gideon sat opposite the still hurt young man. That confession had been some years ago now although Gideon remembered that it had been a shock at the time because he had not read the signs. But then he had wilfully chosen to ignore the hints Stephen's mother had aimed his way …His late wife had always been close to Stephen because Gideon had often been an absent father and husband.

"Stephen, have you ever thought about it from my point of view…"

"Oh, it has to be all you again. You who always had to be the centre of the universe! You who always put your job first…Mom was really lonely you know, always made excuses for you when I was growing up," he snorted, "What amuses me is that you looked so shocked when I told you…You really hadn't seen that coming had you?"

"No I hadn't but with hindsight the clues were there…I just didn't want to acknowledge them because selfishly I always thought that one day I would have grandchildren but then that's what most parents would hope for at some time," the older man admitted.

"Right! Well even if I'd been straight there would not have been the guarantee of grandchildren," Stephen countered in this verbal sparring.

"No, but I'm still Jewish enough to still cling to that concept," Gideon replied sadly and wished that they were not going to argue again about something that neither could change. "Stephen I can't re-write the past, but I just wanted to say goodbye to your face and wish you and Alex well," he replied sincerely.

Stephen let the words sink in and wondered what had happened to bring about his move from the Bureau.

"I've read that there have been substantial cuts in the Bureau's budget…were you a casualty?" he asked in a more contrite tone.

Gideon smiled ruefully, "Let's just say that I was coming up to retirement and I decided to go on my own terms before I was pushed."

Alex returned with more tea, "Please stay and share our dinner, Jason," Alex said quietly sitting down beside him on the couch, "You drove all this way to personally say goodbye…it was obviously important to you." Alex looked at Stephen and his dark eyes softened under the scrutiny of the soft blue ones.

"Yeah, Dad…You look as if you could do with some decent food inside you rather than diner rubbish," Stephen conceded and Gideon felt Alex relax a little beside him as the tension between the father and son eased in this gentle man's presence.

Gideon nodded his acceptance and was grateful for the intervention of Alex who announced that it was only a chicken hotpot that had been cooking in the slow cooker all day so there was no real preparation. Alex further suggested that they could even eat at the kitchen table if Gideon didn't want to be treated as the honoured guest in the dining room.

Jason Gideon chuckled at this good humoured man and knew in his heart that these two men were good for each other and he had no doubt of the love that they felt for one another.

"So what are your plans?" asked Stephen as he drank the newly brewed tea.

"I went to a conference in London earlier this year and met up with some old friends and I mentioned that I was coming up to retirement. Phil said that I could always go and teach on his criminal psychology course and then a contact with the London Metropolitan Police Force said that they would invite me to teach at their training establishment at Hendon. So when I decided to leave I made some phone calls and firm offers began to come my way, not just from the London Police but other police forces in Britain aswell. Phil has a large house and says I can live in the 'granny' annex that is now empty, he's let visiting academics use it since his mother in law died four years ago, so I'll have a base in Cambridge…"

"Oh Cambridge is a lovely place…lots of music and a good train service into London and close enough to the countryside…You can get some bird watching done and there are some pretty villages with very old churches to visit," said Alex enthusiastically.

"You've obviously been," said Gideon with a smile.

"Oh yes, various Summer Schools and I have friends who teach at the university. Early Music is a very small world…just like Criminal Profiling I suppose," he replied with twinkling eyes and Gideon felt an unspoken understanding with this man, even more than his own son who was still being a little distant by comparison.

"Do you have a departure date?" Stephen asked.

"December 18th, from New York," Gideon replied and it began to really hit him how close the date was, only 10 days away.

"So you'll be spending Christmas in Cambridge?" Alex said and then realised, "Oh sorry, you're Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas…as Stephen here takes the atheist path, I still hold up my Christian heritage…"

"Only because he wants a Christmas present," muttered Stephen but Gideon knew from the tone that it was in jest and that these two probably exchanged gifts like a lot of 'atheists' at Christmas time.

The next few hours saw a thawing between Stephen and his father. However, Gideon knew that he would never be completely forgiven because subconsciously Stephen still felt that he had failed to be the Jewish son that Gideon had wanted to carry on the family.

At 10 o'clock, Gideon decided to leave while the memories were good for all three of them. Stephen stood back, keeping an invisible wall between them but he wished his father well and hoped he'd send an e-mail occasionally when he was settled. Stephen went to find his father's jacket and Alex stood for a moment undecided but then reached out and drew Gideon into a bear hug.

"He does care about you…You take care Jason," he said softly and Gideon felt humbled by the warmth that his son's partner would extend to him.

"You'll take care of him," Gideon managed and received a nod in reply, "I know you love him."

Stephen was suddenly back in the room.

"Here you are, Dad," he said and helped his father slip the jacket on, "You're not parked too far away are you, it's beginning to rain."

"No, I'm still fit enough to run a bit you know," he chided good humouredly and then suddenly surprised himself and hugged Stephen, who at first was quite shocked and then returned the gesture.

"Take care, Stephen, I do love you, you're the only son I've got," he managed feeling emotion tightening his chest. Gideon released him and for the first time in many years saw Stephen with his emotional barriers down and looking vulnerable, totally surprised by Gideon's actions and words.

"Goodbye both of you, I'm happy that you have each other," Gideon said and suddenly he was heading for the elevator not daring to stay a moment longer in case it broke the moment of rare harmony.

That had been two days ago, he was now heading back to Washington but he had still not been totally open with Stephen. He could not tell him what had happened to Sarah and how all his hopes for the future had been destroyed by a psychopath…It was all his own fault; he had bargained with the living devil and he had paid a high price. The job had robbed him of love and his peace of mind and Gideon knew he had to escape this country with all its memories, to start afresh and try to carve out a new life. He could be back in Washington today. Gideon turned over and checked his clock, the green numerals changed to read 05:56…He would get up, shower, have an early breakfast and press on….

Lunch with Isaac, he told himself, the old Rabbi was getting more physically frail even if his mind was still very alert. It might be the last time he would be able to stay with him in his old town house that was full of books, good food and wine. Gideon shook his head, he didn't know Isaac's age but it was at least 80…He rolled out of the motel bed and headed for the tiny shower and wondered what he would be doing if he lived to be 80….

**Sunday, Berwyn Heights**

Spencer woke up feeling warm and rolled over in search of Jo's cuddly body but he was disappointed and then heard the sound of the ensuite toilet flushing. A few moments later she slipped back into bed on her side and Spencer suddenly captured her and she giggled as he pressed up against her.

"Sorry if I woke you," she whispered.

"I'm not, I was thinking about you anyway…I was too tired last night," he confessed and began to arouse this treasured woman.

It was midday when the satiated pair finally got up after making up for the evening when Spencer had been too tired for love making. Spencer now totally understood, after his first week at the CACU, why having a stable partner was important for your sanity. It was one thing to read the literature in the psychology journals about work related stress but to experience and acknowledge the need for an anchor in your life was the mark of maturity. Their sex life had always been satisfying but this week it had held an intensity, an urgency that reminded him of the early weeks they had sexually explored each other and then that urgency had smoothed out to something more lingering and tantalisingly pleasurable as the weeks passed. Spencer now wanted to lose himself in the pleasure of their physical closeness. He had thought that Jo had become his anchor at the BAU but now with the CACU the normality of their strong relationship helped him to keep into perspective the reality of his day job. The men in the unit had all said the same thing to him, they had relaxed with him as soon as they knew he had come with a partner. Tony was the only one not to have met her but the men had all mentioned Jo to the older man in Spencer's hearing and they all made it obvious that Jo was special and the sort of partner who could cope.

He sauntered down to the kitchen to find Jo preparing 'brunch'; coffee, museli and muffins were baking in the oven and the smell of them cooking were making his stomach rumble.

"Oh, finally hungry?" Jo said laughing.

"I didn't notice you complaining about having a lie in," he countered pouring himself a mug of freshly percolated coffee. Jo had brought her crockery to this house and these mugs were prime colours with a simple daisy like pattern on one side. He automatically always chose the berry red while Jo invariably reached for the deep holly leaf green.

"I've never complained about our lie ins…I wish we had more of them!"

"I might not be strong enough to keep up with all of your demands…Going to work might become a form of rest…"

"Well that's one way of coping with the job," she shot back ruefully.

"As far as I can tell it's the way the majority of the agents cope there," he admitted.

"So that's why so many of them have children!"

"Probably…" Spencer conceded.

He watched her take the muffins out of the oven… blueberry muffins and he suddenly thought of Hilary at the Clinic and the Arthur's love of her cooking. Hot muffins were before him and Spencer felt relaxed and happy and hoped that the feeling lasted for the rest of the day. He looked up at the limited print on the kitchen wall…the first one of only ten of The Torpedo Factory Art Centre back in Alexandria. It was a print that had sold well for Jo. It was strange how so much in the house brought back the good memories of Virginia….

"Penny for them!" Jo whispered across from him.

"Oh they're priceless…Really, how can you put a monetary value on the memories caught up in that print or the painting of the old apple tree where your Dad likes to sit?"

Jo smiled at him and silently prayed that he would not be called into work today because she felt he needed the rest.

"How about a walk, I've explored quite a lot and the immediate neighbours are very friendly and I think they might like to see a little more of you than your usual dash to the car in the morning or early hours and noticing the car in the drive. They already have the idea that you don't work regular hours!"

"I think it just may have been one of those unfortunate weeks…I think regular hours do come into it somewhere!" he replied and hoped that he was not fooling himself.

There was a chill to the air but the brisk walk was pleasant and walking an area was the best way to get your bearings in their new neighbourhood. The fellow inhabitants that they met had all seemed friendly enough with their smiles and 'Good days!' He noticed how many couples with children they saw and he got the feeling that 'families' were welcome in this small community.

They were walking hand in hand beside a children's play area when Spencer heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Reid!"

Spencer turned and saw the lanky figure of Josh Kramer beaming at him looking relaxed out of his usual work suit. A navy overcoat and blue jeans along with a black knitted hat had made Reid stare a little longer than usual at the transformation. He was pushing a child's buggy and two mini versions of Josh were riding bikes along side him.

The couple stopped so they could catch up with them.

"Hey, you living in this area or just visiting?" Josh asked bringing the buggy to a halt before them while the boys wheeled their bikes around them.

"We live on Jameson," Spencer replied, "This is my partner Jo, Jo …Josh Kramer who's based in Baltimore."

They shook gloved hands and exchanged greetings, "But we purposely live away from the work place," Josh replied.

The boys drew up their bikes and grinned at these new people. The older one looked no more than 8 years and the younger one looked up with a grin that revealed a lost baby tooth at the top.

"The one in the blue helmet is Adam and the slightly smaller one is Ezra and this sleeping angel…who was howling her head off an hour ago, is Abigail."

Jo instantly began to chat to the boys about their bikes and both proudly told her that the bikes were Hanukkah presents from their Granddad…

"He spoils them," said Josh.

"But that's what grandparents are for…they can indulge in a way they couldn't when you were small. My parents are so patient with my brother's children and let them get away with far more than we did when young!"

Josh laughed, "Yeah, they say it's their pleasure…I guess as parents we're usually too busy just keeping our heads above water coping!"

"Something like that," Jo smiled, "But my brother and his family came over yesterday and the house was just full of toys and childish laughter and tears! But it was good to see them as Spencer was working until mid afternoon and when they left is was so quiet…It was strange after all the space they had filled."

"Yeah, I can't imagine my home now without finding some toy or other popping up in an unexpected place…Hey, come back and have tea with us …Shelley would love to meet you and its only round the next corner…"

They all set off for the Kramer's house and the rest of the afternoon was spent in their pleasant company. Spencer entertained the boys, and their parents, with some of his magic tricks. The boys proudly showed the guests their favourite toys and books and when Abigail woke up she got attention from two new people, and Jo in particular. The males drifted off into the den leaving the women to talk in the kitchen. While the boys watched cartoons, the men sat apart at the other end of the room chatting over tea and cherry cake.

"So how's your first week been?" Josh asked taking a sip of the very hot tea.

"Busy, I had to hit the ground running but then that's normal for the Bureau isn't it when you're an experienced agent!"

"Yeah, but the CACU is a friendly place even if the work is emotionally draining."

Spencer nodded, "I don't think I would last very long here without Jo being with me and now understand why everyone wanted to meet her as soon as possible…You know to see for themselves if she would cope. Fortunately, Jo satisfied the unit's curiosity on the first afternoon and she has really dealt with getting the house sorted out."

"That's good, but women are so organised about such things. Katie wouldn't have been very happy if you had come on your own…but hey Jo's lovely…You known each other long?"

"Since April, but I've known her brother for a couple of years…It was one of those things where he kept saying 'you'd really get on well with my sister'. But the job and other things always got in the way…finally I met her when I was one sick leave…and we hit it off straight away."

"Really! I thought you'd been together at least a year or so …you just seem so in tune with each other," Josh said, "I met my Shelley when I was studying for my Masters. She was in the Law department working as a part time secretary and trying to finish her own law degree. She'd left nursing because of a back injury…lifting a very obese patient…Of course the Hospital said that the nurses involved were in the wrong because there was lifting equipment…but when someone falls they sometimes think with compassion and not their logical heads!"

"So no compensation then…Shelley didn't want to stay in nursing on the admin side?"

"Only if she could specialise in law!" replied Josh with laughter, "Shelley decided that specialising in medical work would be a more logical option after all her training. She worked part time at the local hospital for a couple of years then she had Abigail and she's been at home since. I think she'll go back part- time when Abigail's three, like she did with Ezra, but she doesn't want to miss out on the children by working full time when they are so young. But she keeps up with things and works one evening a week at the Legal Advice Centre in College Park. "

Spencer nodded and thought Shelley was a very shrewd lady.

Shelley and Jo were deep into the woman to woman bonding that females have always known down the centuries. Women have always supported each other while their partners were away hunting, fighting, working…There were common threads of existence that wove together a network of understanding…in this case about their men and the demands of the Bureau and their man's work in that organisation.

The 10 month old Abigail was happily dozing on Jo's lap as they sat chatting putting the world to right along the way. When they finally went home Jo was aware that she had made a new friend, who understood the pressure of being the partner of an FBI agent, while Spencer confirmed the underlying friendship he sensed he had formed through working with Josh on past cases.

As Jo and Spencer lay snuggled together in bed that night, Spencer was grateful that it had been a day without the intrusion of work.

Meanwhile, back in Derek Morgan's home he rolled off Angela's warm and sweetly yielding body after an invigorating orgasm. He settled on his back revelling in the after glow of sex and thought that this was the only compensation for being stuck at his desk at Quantico all week. He did have at least a very satisfying sex life with Angela especially as she had now moved in with him; the sense of coming home to a warm greeting was something that he did look forward to. Morgan thought perhaps he would get bored with just one woman after his previous life style but monogamy had its compensations, he told himself, and being able to smugly tell people about his partner had a certain positive effect on his credibility for improving his image. Erroll Hart had told him that Bureau people had noticed that she was on his contact list and again when he added that they were now living together. Hart had been correct, he had to prove his stability to the upper levels of management or he wouldn't get promotion and Angela's credentials were just perfect. Derek Morgan didn't want to stagnate, Emily seemed happy at the moment to tread water at the BAU but he was not happy that Reid had been moved to give him more experience. Morgan didn't need to be a genius to read the signs, like others in the BAU, he had concluded that Reid was being marked out for greater things.

Angela pressed closer wanting to feel him near her once more. Morgan wasn't particularly interested, he just wanted to sleep now, but he put a muscled arm loosely over her to give some impression that he cared. Women were all the same, he thought as he drifted off to sleep, they were not satisfied with great sex they still wanted the cuddling after aswell when all a man really wanted to do was to let the tingling afterglow slowly take them into sleep.

Jennifer Jareau sat in her new apartment. She had moved out of Simon's place yesterday and didn't regret the decision although she knew that Simon had taken it badly. However, Simon wanted marriage and children and she didn't want those things at this time. Jareau had been brought up in small town America and had escaped to college but she was not going to throw all that away just because her older boyfriend wanted to settle down.

Simon had been very supportive of her over the Hankel case and had been very sympathetic over the PTSD she had experienced. However, that did not mean that she wanted marriage or that it gave him the right to think that his steadfast support of her meant she would yield to marriage as a form of reward. The split had been in the making over several weeks but she knew that she had to make the concrete moves of finding her own place again and furnishing it. She didn't know if anyone at the BAU would understand her actions because they tended to think of her and Simon as a couple but J.J. couldn't live a lie. Jareau knew she had left a deeply hurt Simon but at the end of the day, it was best to be honest than to give false hope and Simon would have doggedly insisted on periodically proposing in the hope that she would give in to his persistence.

She opened the bottle of Chardonnay she had bought to drink with her roast chicken salad and poured out a generous glass.

"To myself and personal integrity!" she said to her new living room. There were no regrets, Jennifer knew she had made the right decision, she didn't love Simon enough to settle down into marriage. If Simon couldn't cope with it, and became a nuisance at work, then she would ask to be transferred to Washington or she'd resign; with her media skills she could be useful to any department or organisation needing to regularly use the media outlets.

It was a beautifully decorated small apartment. Marilyn, the realtor at Fairfax Estates, said that it had only had one previous lady occupant who had recently moved to another state with her partner. It was in a very nice secure modern building but effectively only had three rooms off a small entrance vestibule. There was a living room with a kitchen area at one end, a good-sized bedroom and a shower room but no bath. The lack of an actual bath didn't worry her too much as she rarely had time for baths anyway. However, it was all tastefully decorated and it had a lovely modern kitchen area. The plus side was the security and it was well away from Simon's haunts and Alexandria was an easy drive to work. Jareau felt content in this cosy apartment and she thought that it felt like home already.

Penelope Garcia looked at herself in the long mirror in her colourful and crowded bedroom. She had spent the last hour trying on her weekend purchases and still couldn't believe the transformation she could see in her reflection. Penelope's weight loss was now very apparent with clothes in her correct size instead of the loosely hanging garments she had been wearing. Part of her had been afraid to spend out on a new wardrobe of outfits just in case she suddenly put the weight back on again. But after so many months, Garcia's new eating habits were firmly ingrained into her psyche and her better eating pattern was now second nature.

Garcia marvelled at the fact that she had cheekbones and no longer a rounded face with double chins. She looked years younger and wondered at how middle-aged she had appeared before despite her extrovert dress sense. Penelope admired the plum red dress that fell flatteringly over her curves and had a lower neckline that revealed her collarbone. She peeped into the mirror, her collarbone was now quite defined but she'd not seen it in years and the image before her still seemed unreal. Garcia concluded, from her critical inspection and with some satisfaction, that she looked good. She was definitely not a waif like model but a shapely woman with an hour glass figure and she decided that new spectacles were next on her list. Penelope smiled at her reflection, she would wear her new black knee high leather boots tomorrow for work…The weather was cold enough; black boots, black skirt and the scarlet jumper with gold and sapphire glittery stripes at the cuffs, neck and bottom rib.

She reached round her back to begin unzipping the dress. Penelope couldn't make up her mind which one of the new dresses she would wear to the Christmas Party at Quantico. There was always the silky sapphire one with the glittering bead work on the bodice and hem…Or there was the black with the gold embroidery on the hem and cuffs and along the edge of the rather plunging neckline but perhaps that was a little too revealing. But then she cast aside her doubts, it was Christmas and even the shop assistant had said that she looked stunning in that little number! She couldn't wait for the Christmas Party and she looked forward to seeing the looks on faces of those who usually just dismissed her as the overweight computer tech who was now always holed up in her room.

Monday morning came too quickly for all the CACU personnel. Everyone seemed to be busy either following up the last case from Saturday or pursuing a case specific to an older line of enquiry. The Leith and Cooper case was amassing a mountain of evidence that needed carefully cataloguing already. Katie and her deputies were not happy about the girl called Vikki who had so far not regained consciousness and had yet to be identified. Her medical condition was very troubling; Katie had received a call from the Hospital informing the team that she showed no signs of response to the drug induced coma that she had now slipped into. Katie had been harassing the labs to get a DNA profile for Vikki so that they could at least run it against the missing children's databases.

Danielle concentrated on trying to identify men on the material gathered by Gerald and Nigel. Meanwhile Spencer kept an eye on the bullpen and acted as the barrier between the workers and the queen bee, who he noticed was getting short tempered over her frustration at not being able to identify Vikki.

Melanie informed Spencer that Mrs. Lyddon had been relieved and then understandably shocked over the consequences of her daughter's folly. Willow Janson, the CACU trained agent based at Dover, was being very supportive and had patiently explained the need for all the hospital tests that Jessica was being subjected to. Jessica was herself still in shock over the consequences of her own stupid actions and was finding it hard to believe that she had been sexually abused by several men. Dover Social Services had been automatically informed and the mother and the home situation were being routinely assessed. Willow tried to re-assure Mrs. Lyddon that this was all a formality and that she had herself informed the Social Services that Jessica came from a basically good background and was just a teenager who thought she could handle the big nasty world out there…

Roy had managed to stop any thought of bail for Henry Duke and Katie was hoping that the two victims were going to be able to help them with descriptions over the two unsubs. Spencer noted that there was reluctance to show Duke anything that might be useful for him to tip off other paedophiles, even from his present cell. However, Gavin had been sent to make sketches of Kev and Mick and had then used a portable laptop, linked to the computer programme, to transfer the initial impressions into 'photofit' images. Gavin said that from Duke's reaction to these that he thought he had got a good likeness of the two unsubs. These photofits of the men had been given to Danielle and she was looking for them as she patiently worked her way through the visual evidence gathered by Gerald and Nigel at Rankin's club.

Follow up enquiries by Chris had confirmed Henry Duke's status as a respectable computer programmer in Baltimore and a current girl friend of 7 months. Her name was Mary Pollack and she worked as a kindergarten teacher in Silver Springs. Chris told Spencer how shocked she was to hear of Duke's arrest and she was obviously not going to remain in touch when Chris explained that they even had the film evidence of his activities with the two under aged girls.

"Don't tell me…she was slightly built, small breasted, slender hips?" said Spencer no longer shocked at hearing his own cynical voice.

"Yeah, following the type he abused. It's interesting but the obese young girls are definitely in the minority as victims for these guys…The majority still like the idolised thin waif like figure." Chris took a few sips of his coffee and thought over the encounter with Mary Pollack earlier that morning.

"Pollack said that he was a very gentle and considerate lover so she was really surprised about the charges," Chris added.

Spencer Reid nodded; he didn't think Duke was a deliberately violent man and probably didn't even think he was hurting the young women if they were drugged and couldn't cry out or put up a fight. But men behave differently when with other men; it was the effect of being part of the pack. Duke would not have wanted to appear unworthy of being included in the special evening by backing down. It had been all too easy, he had watched the other men and had probably been aroused so that joining in was naturally the next step.

Reid's cell phone rang and he reached into the pocket of his brown corduroy pants.

"Reid," he answered in clipped efficiency.

"Hello Spencer, its Arthur, are you able to join me for lunch?"

Chris saw Spencer's face light up with amusement and thought it might be his Jo.

"Arthur! Great to hear your voice… Where are you?"

"In my temporary office about to head for the cafeteria because I'm told it serves decent food."

"Oh, it does…may not be up to Hilary's standard but then that lady is special and no one makes pancakes like that woman!" Spencer happily replied.

Arthur chuckled and was pleased that Spencer had this happy memory of his time at the Clinic. He knew that Hilary had been very concerned about this particular patient when he didn't seem to be gaining any weight.

"Care to join me for a chat over lunch?"

"Yeah, I need a break and it's almost one so I'll meet you at the cafeteria entrance in five minutes," he replied and ended the call.

Spencer looked up at Chris, "He's a friend who happens to also be a psych," Spencer explained with a warm smile, "I'm going to have lunch with him while things seem quiet here."

Chris nodded and watched the newest member of the unit leave and wondered how many agents could genuinely say that they considered a psych as a friend. The trouble with agents was that they tended to look upon psychologists with suspicion because they had the power to remove you from the field. However, Chris had to be fair, the ones he had recently spoken to for his regular assessments had understood the pressures of the CACU work.

Spencer left the elevator and turned to his right and immediately spotted the rounded figure of Arthur. Reid thought that Jo would probably name a bear after him if they ever met. He had realised over the weeks that Bear naming was a serious business to Jo and not as haphazard as he first thought and he was now sure that she named her bears after real people. In some way she perceived in the toy bear some characteristic of the real person and hence the naming was complete. Spencer had not voiced these conclusions to Jo or any of her family…or perhaps it was because he didn't want to seem as crazy as the woman he loved but he was sure about the method. Gary looked like the Gary who lived down the road from her parents. Harold was definitely judge-like in his stare…Spencer stopped his racing thoughts and concentrated on the happy man he was approaching.

"Spencer! Well you're looking good, College Park obviously agrees with you," Arthur said as they passed through the doors and joined the queue. "And thank you for my signed copy of the book! Erroll Hart wants you to sign the copy he's bought next time you're at Quantico…but be warned there are lots of people who will be queuing up behind him!"

Spencer looked a little embarrassed but he was pleased that his tome seemed to have been well received so far and he'd had lots of e-mails to that effect.

" I wanted you, Don and Max to have signed copies straight from the publisher. I really appreciated what you three did for me at the Clinic and after," he said quietly and then suddenly changed the subject to the present.

"Well now, College Park…Yes, it's nice here. Everyone I've met so far is friendly and they all seem quite happy to the extent…" he stopped and looked furtively to either side and lowered his voice for dramatic effect, "That they don't want outsiders to know just how nice a place it is here because quote 'the riff-raff' unquote will start putting in for transfers."

Arthur chuckled at the young man's humour. He was pleased that Spencer looked every inch the more senior agent with the new hair cut and his whole deportment was more assertive as befitting an agent in the role of a deputy in a demanding unit.

Arthur chose a generous portion of chicken in white wine with mushrooms, green beans and rice. Spencer decided upon the macaroni cheese with a serving of green beans and they both had large cups of coffee. They found a quiet table with just two chairs tucked away from the popular window seats but near a display of several plants with large foliage.

"So," began Arthur as they had sat and settled at the table, "How are things with Jo?"

Spencer spontaneously grinned, "Great, just great. She'd been busy transforming the house into a home and she's been getting to know the immediate neighbours."

"Good, so she feels settled here?"

"Yeah, she really has made the effort. I don't think I could have coped with the first week I had without her…Lets just say, I was thrown into the work very quickly and I feel I've been here forever!"

"That bad?" Arthur commented.

Spencer stared at him and quietly said, "I've been here a week and I feel I've aged a hundred years."

Arthur nodded with understanding, "There are some agents and psychs who reckon that the CACU is even more demanding than the BAU."

Spencer quietly chewed on his food for a few moments before replying, "It's because it's about children. We tend to want children to be protected from the horrors of the world…that their childhood should be sort of magical, but we see the depths of depravity when we find what adults do to destroy a child's innocent way of viewing the world."

"Yes," said Arthur softly and looked into the ancient eyes of the young genius.

"How do you find your colleagues?" Arthur asked changing the subject.

"They are all hard working and committed, they all seem to have stable home lives as far as I can tell and it was important for them to meet Jo…It was as if I wouldn't be totally accepted until they saw that I had a stable partner. Fortunately, Jo was able to come to the unit on my first afternoon so they settled down after that and accepted me as the replacement for Danielle when she goes on maternity leave. I thought the transition might be harder than that because of my age but it was amazing what meeting Jo did for the whole unit…and that included Katie Cole."

Arthur nodded sagely, he had done all the right things and even Adam Priest had remarked how quickly and smoothly Dr. Reid had slipped into the CACU. They spent several more minutes discussing the units personnel and Spencer's assessment of his new colleagues. But something wasn't quite right with Spencer and Arthur needed to get to the bottom of it quickly.

"So everything with your colleagues is good?" the older psychologist probed.

Spencer hesitated a moment but he read in Arthur's eyes that the older psychologist knew something was niggling at him. Spencer took a drink of coffee and quickly thought how best to express it.

"It's Katie, oh don't misinterpret this…she has been very friendly, shown herself to be a perceptive boss to a new agent coming into her unit but somethings just not quite as it should be." He paused and drank more coffee while he gathered his thoughts and he noticed how Arthur was patiently silent not wishing to break the man's flow of explanation.

"Katie can be quite hyper, those are Danielle's words, when they are running with a case…That's fine, as Danielle explained, it's then my job to keep the worker bees from getting stung by the queen bee. I asked Danielle about Katie's private life… she was so intent about wanting to meet Jo, to make sure we were a stable couple, but I don't think Katie has anyone at the moment. However, she may have a very strong circle of friends and it does sound as if she sees her brother's children a lot…But I just have this nagging feeling that after Gideon…I've kinda jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire with my new boss."

Arthur looked intently at Reid. He was not the sort of man to mention such things unless he had picked up an 'unsteadiness', something that Dr. Cole might be hiding from the rest of her unit. Arthur had been talking to his colleague, Andrew Simpson, about the unit that morning. So far Andrew had not met Reid, but Andrew had found himself suddenly promoted into the position of senior psych at the College Park complex after the retirement of both the Head and deputy at the same time. It was the very reason why Arthur was helping out here twice a week until Andrew got to grips with the day to day running of the psych services.

Arthur thoughtfully replied to the younger man, "I don't know Dr. Cole that well, I know that she once worked at the BAU but I never personally met her. I'll keep a watching brief on this one, Spencer. It may be that she is just being affected by all the changes here, but she has been heading the unit for nearly eight years now…that's a long time and if she's not got a partner at home it may be more stressful now than it used to be. But you're correct to voice your concerns; we all know what commitment to a particular job can do to the best of agents. Now, I'm afraid I've got to get back to Andrew, poor man, he's at least three psychs short here, but let's try and have lunch together once a week so you can keep me briefed about things."

Spencer Reid agreed and felt relieved that he had shared his concerns with Arthur. He might be over reacting but he had been right about Gideon….

Arthur went back to his office and closed the door. He took out his cell and accessed a number from his speed dial list.

"Hello Arthur, how are things in College Park?" the voice cheerfully answered.

" It's a nice place, Max. I've just had lunch with Spencer and he's looking every inch the deputy." said Arthur.

"Oh that's good to hear, I'm sure he'll be able to cope and learn a great deal there," Max replied pleased that the young genius was meeting his personal expectations.

"Max," said Arthur with a soft serious tone, "Spencer thinks Katie's beginning to wobble…"

Max was stunned, those were not the words he had been expecting to hear and while he listened to Arthur's report Max thought to himself, 'Oh what have I done? I thought he'd be safe from the political turmoil of Quantico and be in a stable unit there…'

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

**The Interregnum : Chapter 6**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Author's Note**: This chapter touches upon a clash of cultures and religious beliefs. This is not meant to deliberately offend anyone. I was brought up in a multi racial city called Leicester, in England and now live on the outskirts of London. I have noticed particularly that the second generation of an immigrant family sometimes feels torn between two cultures and for some families this has continued. The British government is concerned about the women who are tricked into returning to visit 'back home' and find themselves under pressure to accept the marriages arranged for them in a foreign land. Some women are genuinely happy with arranged marriages but others are not and there are support groups for these women in parts of my country.

There are also some distressing details about a child abuse case, which is based on an actual case.

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Dr. Max Pentall sat at his desk musing over the call he'd had from Arthur. The last thing that Max had wanted to do was to place Reid in a volatile situation, especially one as difficult as the CACU. Katherine Cole had an excellent reputation and when she had put feelers out for Reid with the knowledge of Danielle's pregnancy, the Director had agreed with Max that this would be excellent experience for the genius. Spencer Reid was an experienced agent with the BAU but there was still a tendency for his colleagues to see him as the youngest and it didn't help matters that in the past Reid had coasted along happily in this role. Hankel had brought things to head in more ways than one and the young genius was forced to confront demons that he'd hidden and had come to terms with his true abilities. However, the fact remained that no matter how good an impression that Reid was making at College Park, he shouldn't have to be dealing with a head of the CACU who was having her own personal problems.

Max had summoned up the psych reports on Katie Cole for the past year and spent the next 20 minutes going over the notes of his colleagues, both of which had taken retirement and escaped the area. Hegatty obviously had built up a trusting working relationship with the woman and she had told him about the break up with her lover. They had lived together for the past three years but Hegatty seemed to think that it had ended amicably and they were still on good terms. Katie had told Hegatty, and his deputy James Udell, that it had been fizzling out over a matter of months and Joseph just didn't like taking a back seat to her commitment to the job. It had happened with previous relationships and Hegatty didn't think Katie was upset although he had made a point of having lunch with her every week and she still seemed to be her old self. But perhaps that was the very problem, a case of familiarity masking the real concern. Katie knew Hegatty so well that she could easily pull the wool over his eyes. Dr. Cole was a very good child psychologist and knew how to read people, she had even worked with the BAU for a few years. Her time at the BAU had overlapped with Hotch's initial period there, before he was sent on to the Seattle office, and well before Spencer Reid came under Gideon's radar.

However, Max was confident that Arthur would keep a discreet eye on things and especially to keep regular contact with Spencer. Arthur thought that perhaps Katie was reacting to the changes at College Park, especially as the head of Psych services and his deputy had retired at the same time. She probably had to build up a trust with the new lead psych, although Andrew Simpson had been at the complex a couple of years so he was not a complete stranger.

There was a loud rap on Max's closed door.

"Come," Max called.

Sorry Max, can I speak with you about an agent who has been drinking…"

"Of course, Louis, close the door and help yourself to coffee…." said Max putting aside all concerns about College Park for the more pressing problem.

"Morgan, can I speak with you in my office for a few minutes," Barry said quietly as he passed through the bullpen and gave out some more requests to agents.

Morgan pushed back his chair and followed the older man back to his tiny but neat office.

"Close the door," he said before Morgan got near the seat.

Derek Morgan obeyed and sat down on the only chair before the desk, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"You," said Barry bluntly.

"Pardon?" answered Morgan shaken by this reply and in a tone that Barry had never used on him before.

"You, Morgan, I've had enough of your attitude. It was bad enough last week but this morning you were like a spoilt kid about to throw a hissy fit!"

Morgan's eyes flashed with annoyance and his voice rose to match the rising indignation.

"I've been cooped up in this place and then when there is a case you send Prentiss…I'm senior to her, it should've been me!" he challenged voicing all his grievances.

"So you are challenging my decision on the grounds of seniority?" asked Barry quietly not at all intimidated by this larger and younger angry man.

"We don't get on do we, just because you didn't fit in with the team when Reid was off sick …you're now enjoying your power trip?" snarled Morgan.

"Morgan, I am senior to you, I decide who is given certain profiling requests on my judgement of the agents in the bullpen. I was ordered by Strauss to decide who was the most appropriate agent for any case that might arise needing someone out in the field. If you do not think my decision reasonable then you can always take your complaint to Strauss, but before you do that you had better listen to the defence I'd use against any such allegation. Firstly, what I think of you as a person is not an issue in this work place. Secondly, seniority had nothing to do with the decision to send Prentiss on the case, it was a matter that Prentiss was the most appropriate agent for the situation and you would have not been considered…In fact if Prentiss had not been available, I would have sent Jareau." Barry replied in a studied quietness that seemed oppressive to Morgan in the small room.

Derek Morgan had not expected those words and he was forced to think about his recent actions. His angry glare began to lessen as the words sunk in.

"Then why was Prentiss the appropriate agent?" Morgan asked in a mocking quietness that was not lost on Barry, who personally would have liked this agent to have been seconded elsewhere rather than the multi-talented and even tempered Reid.

Barry took a deep breath and turned all his experience as a profiler on this over confident male.

"The case concerns the disappearance of a woman whose father works for the Pakistani Embassy. A woman, now note that carefully Morgan, it is a Muslim society and although you might think that you would be able to communicate well and handle the situation, I did not. The police specifically asked for our help because they felt out of their depth over the position of women and the religious and cultural aspects of the case," stated Barry firmly and Morgan knew he had pushed the man too far this time.

"What do you know of the position of educated women in Pakistani society?" Barry asked mildly and Morgan knew he'd fallen into a very big hole with his assumptions about Barry's choice.

Barry stared waiting patiently for an answer and knew that finally the cocky Morgan was being pulled into line.

"Nothing," the younger man finally conceded.

"That's what I thought. You also don't usually move in diplomatic circles and Prentiss is a natural because both her parents were ambassadors. She has also lived in Muslim countries and understands the cultural mix with the Islamic traditions that women have to abide by. The missing woman maybe a student at Georgetown, but Muna was expected to behave with decorum, even if her parents consider themselves to be modern in outlook…tradition can have a very strong hold in such societies."

"Then you don't think that this woman has been kidnapped?" Morgan asked suddenly interested with the case that he had pushed out of his mind when Emily was assigned to the fieldwork.

"No, nor do the police…There were no signs of violence, no kidnap demand, the woman just disappeared after saying she was going to the library. Muna didn't even live on campus and all her possessions were left at home. Prentiss thinks this case has more to do with a young woman who wanted to live her own life and not have her parents dictate her future," Barry explained, "Muna's friends are more likely to talk openly to Prentiss than to you, and that is another reason why Prentiss was the correct choice.

Morgan, if you want to stay with this unit then you had better lose the attitude because the bullpen was sick of your antics last week and don't want to witness anymore…If you are not going to adapt to the difficult times, like everyone else, then get out. But as posts are frozen at the moment any movement, other than resignation, may be very difficult."

It seemed to Morgan that his body was prickling with annoyance but he also now understood Barry's reasoning for the choice and that he had no case to take before Strauss. Derek Morgan felt like a kid before the Principal and he just wanted to get out of this small oppressive room.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, you know your choices Morgan," replied Barry but he spoke softly and with no sign of gloating.

Morgan got up and went back to his desk feeling angry with himself. He knew that if he wanted to be taken seriously as an agent ripe for more responsibility then he had better start behaving the part. Derek Morgan immediately knew what he could do to improve his chances of advancement and began to think through how he would carry out his next steps.

**Four Days Later**

Emily Prentiss was pleased to have a break from the office routine but she was also feeling very lonely. She had been trained as a profiler to work as a member of a team but now she was suddenly expected to work in the field on her own. It was strange after the invisible support of your fellow team members. What she noticed first was that, although the police and the Washington Office personnel she was working with were very friendly and professional, she missed being able to bounce ideas off the team. Prentiss had taken it for granted in those early weeks when she had first moved to the BAU; it might be on the plane, in the SUV or over supper and reviewing the case as they ate. But she now understood more than ever how important those experimental exchanges of ideas were and how much she had learnt about the work from those times. She missed the steadiness of Hotchner's guiding hand as the leader, now she was out on her own. Emily could call in and speak to Barry or anyone else in the BAU, but she was now the oracle as far as the police and the Bureau were concerned on this case and they looked to her for the answers. Emily was feeling the responsibility and loneliness of the work after only four days. However, she reminded herself that this had been the nature of the work originally, when there had been no team descending to help but the profiler coming armed with his skills to guide…it was a very exposed position to be in.

At least she was in Washington and she knew something of the society she was moving in, indeed the Ambassador even knew her mother so that had helped her to be accepted amongst the Embassy staff. Prentiss was walking across the Georgetown campus to met one of Muna's friends and her mind drifted back to the morning when Barry had called them to the conference room to discuss the case as a group. Morgan had been so ready to spring into action, all enthusiastic at the thought of finally a case to work on. She also remembered his suppressed fury as Barry immediately assigned her into the field to assist the Washington Office who had the case passed to them by the police. Emily had thought that Morgan was going to challenge Barry about his choice but J.J. stared hard at him and wished her luck assuring Emily that they would all be on hand if she needed their help over the phone.

Prentiss recognised the young woman she was to meet here in the entrance foyer of the library. The student was dressed in a warm looking scarlet wool jacket and faded denim jeans, her softly wavy black hair was hanging loosely down her back.

"Hello, Farida," she smiled, "Thank you for agreeing to speak to me, especially as I know how things must be delicate with other students and perhaps your parents about this matter."

The dark eyed slender Asian woman nodded but her eyes looked warily around her, "We are being watched by Embassy Security staff," she softly said and began to walk toward the cafeteria. Prentiss followed and they began to talk about Islamabad, a place they had both visited.

They got some tea and Farida chose the table. Prentiss noticed that Farida had chosen a particular seat because it gave her a good view of the whole of the cafeteria.

" By the way, my parents would understand that I am talking to you because it is your job to investigate where Muna is. You seem to understand about the strange position of the educated woman in Pakistani society," the young woman softly said.

"I have a friend called Nawal who I met at college and she now lives with her family back in Pakistan," Emily replied hoping that she would relax a little and trust her to at least indicate if her thoughts about this case were correct.

"Muna wanted to leave home didn't she?" Emily asked almost in a whisper.

The woman nodded and sipped her tea.

"There was a boyfriend?" asked Emily feeling her way.

Farida smiled and drank some more of her tea.

"The family didn't approve?" Emily pressed on.

"Of course not, no one who was not chosen by that family would be approved of."

"They know him?" Emily probed.

"No…but Muna told me that she was not going to go back to Pakistan on an expected visit. Muna made the excuse to her parents that she had a lot of studying to do, to prepare for the interview that might lead to being accepted on the Masters course she wanted. However, her parents insisted on the visit and that's when Muna knew she had to get away fast…"

"She thought she would be forced to go home?" asked Prentiss wanting to understand as much as she could about Muna's state of mind leading up to her disappearance.

"Exactly, she told me a similar thing had happened to her cousin who had been studying in England. This cousin had met someone but her parents had arranged a marriage for her back home that she didn't want. Anyway, this cousin was tricked into going back home because the mother said that her grandmother was dying and not expected to live long. When she got there, it was a lie and she found that arrangements had been made for a marriage and she started to protest. This poor woman was given the usual emotional pressure of 'family honour'…that she would accept the marriage or her family would be ridiculed and never trusted again within their society. Anyway, Muna was still at school in Pakistan when all of this happened but she was old enough to witness the effect of all that 'family honour' had on a once happy and gifted woman. Four days before the marriage Muna's cousin committed suicide…she took an overdose of painkillers and was found at the family home. She had left a note saying that she would not be treated as some emotionless chattel and with her education she wanted to make her own decisions about her life. She felt that she could not live a lie and took the painkillers she had collected from the pharmacy for her grandmother. It was all hushed up of course and that family never speaks about the daughter who dishonoured the family name. Muna's mother told her to forget about doing a silly thing like the selfish cousin who had ruined her father's position in Pakistani society…You see family honour takes precedence over personal happiness," Farida said almost in a whisper.

"Is it the same for you?" Emily asked gently.

"No, my parents are both surgeons and have been here a long time, I was born here and I'm totally contaminated by western ideas. My father has turned down positions at leading hospitals back in Pakistan because he doesn't like the hypocrisy…the double standards and prefers to live here despite this country's problems. Too many back in Pakistan want to be accepted as a modern society but will not allow a healthy questioning of the religious beliefs and the changes in culture that comes with modernisation. Pakistan and other Asian countries want the benefits of modernisation but can't cope with the fact that a greater educated society often leads to questioning the status quo of how that society is run.

Then you get those people who can't cope with the pace of changes and cling even more rigidly to the religion and that creates other conflicts. In my home, my parents have encouraged we children to question and by doing so we do not blindly obey, but they consider that to be normal because we live here. It is one of the great problems for Islam in a modern society; unlike the medieval Roman Catholic Church, it has not undergone a reformation like Europe experienced. These modernising states are afraid because an educated society questions. I believe that it is only by questioning and examining the facts and acknowledging that the Koran has itself been censored over the centuries, or only parts selected that serve a particular message, will the Islamic world enter the twenty first century. It's just like when the Bible was put under the intellectual microscope in your cultural past, and my culture must pass through this intellectual growth. I believe it is good to have a faith questioned because sometimes that is the only way an educated mind can truly find God, rather than blindly learning by rote and clinging to ritual without an ounce of understanding in your soul." Farida passionately expounded as if giving a lecture.

"Well there are still those in this country that take a more literal interpretation of the Bible too. But we were a country that was originally formed by settlers who were often escaping religious persecution themselves, and that does tend to make people take a firmer line on their beliefs. Over time, things have tended to ease up but there are still those who will come out strongly in defence of their religious beliefs if they feel them under threat," countered Emily.

"Yes, but you have a more tolerant society here, so many societies are dominated by a narrow interpretation of Islam…I suppose that both of these great religions hold the one common thread, that each have extremists who think they uphold the true word of God," said Farida sadly.

Emily stared at this quiet young woman and thought how lucky Farida was to have such enlightened parents but then they had also chosen not to return to the land of their birth. Prentiss had seen what an arranged marriage had done to a college friend. It had all happened over 15 years ago now and Nawal came from a wealthy and educated family but her life was not her own. Emily remembered how she had sat and listened to her friend try and convince herself that her parents would only choose someone suitable, after all they loved her. But later, when Emily visited Nawal, during one of her stays when her parents were working in India, Emily knew Nawal was in a loveless marriage and her friend was desperately unhappy but keeping up appearances for family honour. However, as her mother had pointed out to Emily when they had discussed the situation, some women accepted their position happily and didn't expect to have the same concept of love before marriage like in the west. Her father had added his opinion and reminded the two women that medieval women were often the subject of an arranged marriage and marrying for love was a fairly modern concept. He had further pointed out that even Jane Austen was sensible enough to mention money in the equation for husband hunting.

Emily shook off her memories and concentrated on the case in hand.

"Then you think Muna is safe?" Prentiss pressed, "I promise that even if I find her I will not tell her parents where she is. Muna is not a minor but the Embassy has listed her as missing and I don't think her parents have spirited her back home… Cultural attaches don't have the same clout as Ambassadors."

"They are a prominent family in their home province but I think she has gone to ground here…" Farida confided in a whisper.

"There's an unofficial help group isn't there?" Emily stated and saw the shock register on Farida's face.

"I have never said anything like that," she whispered but her dark eyes looked haunted.

"You don't have to say it, it would be the most logical step for the educated women to help their fellow woman and they have spirited her away, haven't they? I know that arranged marriages can sometimes be seen as a problem in Britain. The authorities there are very concerned about girls being taken back home under pressure to marry. Some of these women have set up their own safe houses and self help groups because of the stigma of dishonouring the family."

"I really don't know but I sincerely hope that is the case for Muna," Farida replied.

Emily nodded with understanding and instinctively knew she had the answer. However, she would not pursue this rigorously, or pressure might be exerted on the Bureau by the Ambassador and the parents if they thought the Bureau knew Muna's whereabouts.

The two women finished their tea and parted amicably. As Prentiss strolled back towards central Washington and the Bureau she noted, that if her suspicions were correct, the Embassy would have put a tail on her. She was not worried she was not going to be a pawn in this. Emily would tell the Bureau her suspicions about Muna and leave the matter, she wished her well and hoped who ever he was would treat her with respect. Prentiss was not going to reveal all her information in her final report. During her investigation she had met a couple of Muna's fellow students who hinted that there may have been a secret boyfriend who had moved on to another university to take a higher degree.

One of the most disturbing facts of the case was the way the Embassy security staff had behaved.They had not allowed access to Muna's computer and possessions. The security staff had emptied her room and it was only after Emily's personal intervention, helped by her family history, that these personal things were released to them. However, they had not been allowed to remove them from the Embassy compound but Burnes, the computer forensics expert on the case, told her that it was too perfect. The computer only contained her academic work and e-mails were all too innocent…nothing to indicate a boyfriend or a planned escape. He suspected that Muna knew she could not trust anyone at the Embassy and certainly had not used that computer for highly personal messages.

Emily smiled to herself; she was not at all surprised now she knew about the cousin. Perhaps Muna had suspected that her family were too wedded to the culture of Pakistan and the student was suspicious of any moves to get her back home, now she was of at the end of her first degree. Emily stared into the brightly decorated shop windows and saw in the reflection her two watchers and an Embassy car, the number had been checked earlier. Prentiss walked on, she would have planned her escape carefully too had she been Muna. Emily was once more haunted by the images of seeing Nawal confined to the life of wealth but unhappiness, for her friend love had not grown out of the marriage.

Once back at the Washington Office, Emily started to write up a brief report of her findings and was surprised to find a petite Asian looking woman at her desk. Emily noted her fine black hair was fashionably cut short and she was dressed in a smart navy tailored wool suit and green blouse.

"Agent Prentiss?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," replied Prentiss puzzled by this woman's appearance at her desk as she read her ID tag, Rabia Hussein, Receptionist, 4th. Floor.

"May I have a private word?"

Prentiss nodded.

"I understand that you have been investigating the disappearance of a young student from Pakistan called Muna," she whispered so that none of the agents at the surrounding desks would overhear.

"Is she all right?" Prentiss decided to cut through any smoke screens.

Rabia looked surprised and nodded. "I had a phone call to say that she is safe and now has a new identity. I didn't ask further because I support the work these people do to help these women and they have never asked me to do anything that compromises my work here. Do you understand, we don't want you digging too deeply in case you lead others innocently to the helpers and then all the work is jeopardised."

Emily sadly smiled, "I understand, I have a friend back in Pakistan who accepted an arranged marriage but I know Nawal is unhappy but puts up with it all for family honour."

Rabia nodded, "Thank you, we try to support these women but it is hard for them having once been part of usually large extended families. Then suddenly they are cut off and daren't make contact with them ever again because of possible violence. It has happened to some women in Britain you know, the families have tracked them down and attacked the women and their partners, a few have even been killed. We try to keep things quiet, we think it's the best way in the end but we do manage to help and we think all will be well in this case…"

"I was merely going to say the truth that I believe Muna left of her own accord and won't be coming back," Emily said honestly.

"Yes, if you think it will put an end to all the questions, although the family will pressure you to give details but in the end it is just your experience of life in this case isn't it…like knowing how trapped your friend Nawal is."

"I was just writing up my report saying that I believe she had fled fearing an arranged marriage and there is no sign of kidnap, violence or obviously a body. Muna is a very intelligent woman, who had been upset by the suicide of a cousin to escape an arranged marriage, it could be reasonable to assume that she had always had an escape plan should she ever need it." Emily firmly and calmly stated not wishing to be drawn further in conversation with this woman.

Rabia smiled slyly at her, "Yes that's really what happened and thank you."

Rabia turned and left as silently as she had arrived but Emily watched her go. 'What a pretty little liar,' she thought to herself, 'and the reason you're only a minor receptionist is because we know that you can't be trusted and you will no doubt now ring the Ambassador to tell him of my findings!'

Emily turned back to the report and a few minutes later had a second visitor, Yardley, from Security.

"Had a lady visitor a few minutes ago?" he said softly sitting down at her desk.

"Yes,"

"She rang the Ambassador's private number as soon as she was off this floor," Yardley informed her.

"Doesn't surprise me…Do you know who really helps these women?" Emily asked this handsome African American who was totally professional. He was not the sort of man to flirt when working and Emily found herself wishing that Morgan could be like Yardley.

"Rumour has it that a lady doctor is involved but I'm a man so I may have got it all wrong. Just keep the report to how we discussed it. The Embassy can't say we didn't look into it but we drew blanks because there were no leads, as would be the case if the lady wanted to disappear. The Embassy won't want any adverse publicity so it will be all hushed up…."

Emily Prentiss nodded and decided that Washington was full of its usual manoeuvring within political circles for power and appearances. She smiled to herself; Emily had her own thoughts about the female doctor but she sincerely hoped that Muna would be happy where ever she was. At least this evening she would be able to call in on George and surprise him.

Spencer sat in the living room totally engrossed in the music of Dowland; his long slender fingers teased the lute to sing out the haunting music. Jo had gone to the final rehearsal of the choir before the performance on Saturday. She had taken her car into Washington today and from there she was going to go back to Virginia for the rehearsal. Jo didn't know if she would be staying in Alexandria tonight because it depended on how late the rehearsal finished and how tired she might be feeling. Spencer had encouraged her to keep up her singing with the choir until at least after the performance. However, he knew that Jo had made enquiries about the choir at the University and another off campus so she was seriously thinking about finding a musical outlet nearer to their present home. The lute had always helped Spencer unwind from his stressful career, the beauty of the music usually reminded him of the other world he belonged to. However, often as he played his mind would recall events but it also gave him time for reflection and sometimes he would see things in a wider perspective….

It had been a difficult afternoon at the CACU. The news had come from the hospital that Vikki had died and that meant that now 'murder' could be added to the charges of child abduction and rape. The whole unit was depressed that the child's DNA had not been on any data base and Frederick Cooper had remained silent about her. Although it was obvious that he had raped her he refused to confirm or deny if he had given her drugs. From Henry Duke's version of events Cooper had given her fruit juice and Leith had also backed up this detail. hHwever, the unit suspected that Cooper was protecting Kev and Mick.

Katie was unhappy at not being able to get Cooper to talk and particularly about the lack of details concerning Vikki. The more they thought about her the more they began to think she was an illegal immigrant or sold on for drugs. Katie had spent most of the afternoon holed up in her office not wanting to be disturbed because she had told her deputies that she had phone calls to make.

"She'll be making informal enquiries with various task forces dealing with drug trafficking and that brings in the big guns of organised crime gangs. Honestly, Spencer, these people don't like to be crossed and will kill and take what they want to get the loyalty by fear…It might be that Vikki was taken from a family as punishment for reneging on a deal…or in part payment and then sold on. There are no morals; no consciences…Vikki would have been valuable to a paedophile ring, untraceable so when her usefulness had come to an end she could be disposed off…an unknown, never reported missing. Even if we distribute the girl's picture, someone might come forward saying that they thought she lived with a certain family. But the family may have moved on, become invisible in a big city, or deny it all and we can't demand a DNA sample without proof. At the end of the day, if Vikki's family are 'illegals' then they don't exist," Danielle remarked to him in their office.

Spencer had listened carefully, but he was quite aware of how children could easily escape the system and with home schooling, it was very easy to slip through the more obvious networks that check up on a child. Spencer personally knew how his own home situation had been missed despite his education within the public system. He had not wanted to be taken into care after his father had left. With his mother's deteriorating condition, he had cleverly deceived the social services and the school system that should have been the safety net. It might amaze his colleagues to know just how devious a mind Dr. Spencer Reid had. He had used 'criminal' tactics to survive until things slightly improved when he went to live part of the week with the Bishop family when studying at the University of Nevada. Forging his mother's name on cheques and documents had become easy. Spencer thought that he could understand how highly intelligent, but disaffected, youths could slip into the world of crime. No one had found him out and he had only ever forged Diana Reid's signature. But he could have very easily have extended his criminal activity into on-line fraud considering his abilities with computers, which he was careful to keep partially hidden…afterall, Garcia was supposed to be the expert!

It was nearly midnight as he finished playing 'Dr. Case's Pavan' and Spencer let the notes hang in the room before he rose to place his lute carefully in its case. He went to the kitchen and locked the back door and switched off the light and then entered the living room again his eyes sweeping the room checking that all was tidy. Reid had a tidy mind probably because his mother had been so disorganised due to her illness. Spencer didn't think that he was obsessively neat but he just liked to tidy up at the end of the day. It was the same with his desk at work, he knew where things were and although papers might get scattered all over during the day, at home time he would tidy everything ready for the next day. He saw that Jo had left her book under a chair and went and retrieved it, placing the book on the coffee table, and then he heard the car pull up at the house.

Spencer was surprised because he had thought Jo would stay in Alexandria tonight especially as she had not got home by 11 o'clock. He heard her keys in the front door and a few moments later she entered the living room with a warm smile.

"Still up? Bet you've been tidying things away," she said and her eyes fell upon her book.

"I thought you'd stay at the apartment," he confessed but was pleased that she had decided on the drive. He had missed her welcoming presence when he had got home and had not been looking forward to sleeping in their bed without her.

"Not much traffic on the road at this time of night and …well, I didn't want to stay on my own." Jo replied and slipped off her mulberry coloured wool coat and turned back to the entrance hallway to hang it up. Spencer followed and switched the living room light off as he went.

"Did you have a good rehearsal?"

"Yeah, everyone was in good form. It should be good on Saturday if we sing like we did tonight," Jo replied and began to climb the stairs with Spencer a couple of steps behind her.

"How about your day?"

"Not that good, the unidentified victim died this afternoon so now there's a murder charge but the main suspect isn't talking and the whole unit were rather subdued about it all. I'm hoping that Danielle's dogged work will bring us the breakthrough we need in identifying people," said Spencer suddenly yawning and realising that perhaps he should have gone to bed earlier. However, the house felt right again to him and all he wanted to do was curl up beside this woman and sleep.

Friday was busy and although he had hoped to have lunch with Arthur both men had been tied up with their work and couldn't find a time to suit either of them. Danielle had decided to concentrate on the passport system of photographs to try and identify the men quickly. She reasoned that Mick and Kev were probably in good jobs and had some influence to be able to rely on the silence of Cooper. Also the venues, like Rankin's club, had been an expensive hobby, so the men might also be sex tourists in the hope that they would not be caught in their own land even if they only 'watched' at Rankin's club.

Soon after 10 o'clock, Katie had suddenly took off collecting Tony and Chris on her way saying that Spencer was in charge of any inquiries. As they passed through the door, Tony remarked that it was an urgent request from Washington and nasty. Four hours later the two men had returned and Spencer was alarmed at the sight of the very pale and quiet Chris.

Tony came and got a mug of coffee before settling to write his report.

"Katie's still interviewing the woman," Tony said making his black coffee, "Chris took things badly…"

"What was the case actually about?" Spencer asked quietly in the kitchen area.

"The baby sitter's boyfriend raped a 9 month old girl while the woman held the baby in place," Tony stated in a matter of fact voice and looked towards the bullpen and where Chris sat.

"I hate these cases, I thought Chris was going to throw a punch at one point but he held it together…he's never had one like that," continued Tony and Spencer stared wide eyed at the details.

"We don't get too many like that but the hospital rang it in to us direct…The mother was frantic…" Tony said and sipped his coffee feeling the weight of the world heavily on his shoulders that afternoon.

Spencer saw Chris suddenly go into the men's room and Tony followed his gaze.

"You take care of the paperwork, I'll take care of Chris," Spencer said moving towards the door.

When he entered the men's room he could hear the sound of retching and knew it was Chris behind the only closed cubicle door. Spencer waited patiently, eventually the sounds of the body emptying its stomach died and the debris was flushed away. The cubicle door opened and a very white looking Chris stepped out, his freckles seemed to standout on the unnaturally pale skin. He was surprised to see Spencer quietly standing by the hand drier.

"Tony told me about the case you were called to," Spencer explained.

Chris let the cold tap run and splashed water over his face and then washed his mouth out with a couple of handfuls, "I almost lost it in the interview room…I've never done that before, have you?" he asked staring at Reid from the mirror.

Spencer stared back into the mirror and marvelled at how calm his own reflection looked. He knew he had changed so much, he looked every inch the experienced agent and 'acting deputy', the long haired terribly young pre Hankel Reid was gone.

"Yeah, I've felt like that a couple of times since being in the Bureau so far, I'm sure there are more to come… From what Tony said I'm sure that I would have been tempted too," Spencer confessed softly and Chris looked into the large sensitive brown eyes and didn't doubt the sincerity of the words.

"I'm seen some things since being here, Spencer, but today was the worse and I felt like ringing the necks of both of them…They were animals…You just can't see any reason in their actions and when I asked why? You know what the guy said… 'I just always wanted to do a baby…' They have to be sick…no mad, absolutely mad to even think like that let alone to actually carry the act through!" exploded Chris.

Spencer watched as the tension in the young man was released with the anger he was expressing and the disbelief at the crime he had just investigated.

"The parents of that little girl were just speechless at the barbarity. The baby sitter they had used several times but it was the first time she had asked if she could bring her boyfriend. Katie was so professional, I just don't know how she and Tony acted so normally!" Chris shook his head slowly at the memory and turned to look Spencer in the eye.

"You know, I daren't tell Faye about this case or she'll be terrified to leave our little Ethan with any babysitter. You know the Washington Precinct wanted us to handle it because they felt that the pair might get 'manhandled' and jeopardise the case. So we brought them back here and Washington P.D. provided us with another vehicle and police officer to drive us. But you could tell he was glad to be driving and not sitting beside Nate Belton. I'm sure that when it gets out what this pair has done that they will have to be kept in solitary for their own protection."

"Yes, you were correct to get them away from the area they committed the rape …Christ, it's unbelievable, just thinking about it. Who's prosecuting this one?"

"Andrea!" replied Chris with gusto, "She'll have none of this pleading, 'I was molested as a child' rubbish…Being molested as a child doesn't mean you automatically become a perpetrator as an adult…Have you met Andrea?"

"Not personally, I've just been informed about her considerable courtroom talents," replied Spencer mildly.

He was pleased to see Chris smile at his gentle humour.

"Yeah, right…Formidable is a good word for Andrea. You might think Roy is a powerhouse in our favour but his colleague…She's some woman!" Chris praised and Spencer was noting how the tension was going from his stance and the natural colour returning to his cheeks.

"I've seen men wet their pants when she has gone for them…" continued Chris, "Even Roy says that he's careful not to cross her in the office."

Chris looked up and studied Reid's slightly anxious expression.

"Oh don't worry, she'll take one look at you and she'll want to feed you up!" Chris pronounced and laughed, "She'll come up to the office after the arraignment to tell us how things go…I tell you, even the judges respect Andrea. The guy's lawyer was shaking when he saw she was prosecuting," Chris laughed he was beginning to feel more like his old self again.

"Thanks Spencer for coming to see if I was all right."

Spencer smiled, "I'm a colleague and its part of my job description to keep an eye on the bullpen and we men have to stick together, we're outnumbered here…the men's room is our sanctuary."

"Too right, even Katie doesn't cross this threshold!"

They left their sanctuary together. Chris went back to his desk and began to write up his report. Spencer went to see how Rick was getting on with tracking down a 'sex tourist'. Before lunch Rick thought he had a lead, and had been calling up all the details about a man in San Diego who, from the passport data base, looked very like one of the unsubs after breaking down the distorted facial images. On line material, featuring underage sex acts, usually had the faces of the perpetrators distorted but specialised computer experts were getting more successful at breaking the 'distortion' and thus the real face can be revealed. In this case the computer programme that Rick had been taught to use had worked its magic and although the face was not as clear as perhaps one would like, the image was distinctive and another enhancement programme helped to smooth out some of the graininess. Putting this to run through the database and a name and picture had been found. Rick was very excited and Spencer was caught up in the thrill of a possible success. This man, if it could be proved that he had visited Vietnam, would be contacted by the nearest field office to be questioned but Rick hoped that he might be able to go personally, as he had done all the tracing work.

"What do you think, Spencer?" Rick asked showing him the two images, one a passport photograph the other the computer enhanced image that had been taken from the material the Vietnamese and Thai governments had sent.

"They look a good match to me, has he had any contact with that part of the world?" Spencer asked pleased that these foreign governments had the confidence to ask help from them.

"He was in Thailand last April and again in the September. The April trip was listed as a business trip; he imports printing cartridges for computer printers. I rang the Unit in Bangkok to check their records to see if he went to Vietnam from there. Harry, I've been assured that I wouldn't get his name right so everyone calls him Harry…He's our main contact there, Harry studied in New York for a couple of years and speaks English very well. If you call the unit they always get him because his English is the best and they don't want any misunderstandings due to the language barrier. We have a good relationship with these people because we have helped them before. The previous help meant that we have been approached by Vietnam too. If we find out who these people are and pass on their names they watch for their return and try to catch them in the act with the children. It is usually easier than trying to get an extradition…you know what our law is like and what a good lawyer can do…"

"Do you ever connect these men to activities here?" Spencer asked.

"Rarely, they may visit places like Rankin's and buy 'child porn' but we rarely find them committing acts with children here. They don't consider being in possession of child porn to be a crime…You know how it is, they usually wail innocently, 'it's a picture I've never touched a child,'" replied Rick.

"But we are trying to get across that every picture means that a child has been exploited," said the older Carl who had come to join them, "Harry's just rung to say that Thomas Gardner had visited Vietnam in April and September as a tourist using Thai airlines."

Spencer joined the look of triumph between the two men,

"We can start to find out more about his back ground and associates and perhaps our luck will hold and we'll be able to identify the other unknown faces they sent us," said Rick feeling his dogged work over the past week had been worth it. "I need to ring our people in San Diego."

Spencer grinned at Carl as Rick reached for his phone. They left him to make his call and both headed to make coffees. In the empty kitchen area, suddenly Carl turned to Spencer and softly said, "Chris OK?"

Spencer nodded, "I think I would have been sick after that case…But he didn't lash out and he held it together until he got back here. It was a good normal reaction, we have to remember that we're human and somethings do make us feel sick."

"Yeah, when Tony told me about the case you were already in the men's room with Chris and I didn't want to interrupt. We have to support each other here …You did a good job getting him back at his desk after the wobble and without drawing attention to it," praised Carl.

Spencer nodded, "Goes with the job description but I've seen some pretty gruesome things in the BAU but honestly, because its children here…I find it especially demanding. I know I was sent here to get experience outside the BAU but it's hardly an easy secondment!"

"Yeah," Carl sympathised and smiled warmly, "But every one respects your professionalism since you came to join us and that means that we are more likely to open up and be honest about things with you. You did the right thing with Chris…you two are closer in age as well so it was probably easier for Chris to admit his feelings with you than say Tony or myself."

"But it works both ways, Carl," Spencer replied to the older man who looked surprised, "I know I can speak openly to you older agents who have far more experience in this area of work. I was surprised to be sent here and thought my age might be a problem in getting accepted but everyone here pulls together."

"Well, that's Katie, she's good at keeping us focussed and things don't fester because Katie nips any issues between her people in the bud."

"Yes, she's been here quite a long time now," said Spencer thoughtfully but decided to keep his own thoughts about Katie to himself.

Nearly three hours later, Spencer was introduced to the 'formidable' Andrea. She had slipped in to see Tony and Katie and Tony called Spencer over to Katie's office.

"Here's our genius on loan from the BAU, Andrea," Katie enthused as he walked into the office and Spencer was surprised to find a strapping sun-tanned blond, her broad shoulders emphasised by the cut of her tailored suit, that was pewter grey like her eyes.

"Andrea Erikson," she said proffering her large hand and Spencer felt a vice like grip and decided that this woman was not a believer in half measures. "Roy's been singing your praises and then Adam has been gloating over getting Dr. Reid at College Park. I think there was quite a battle behind the scenes for you!" she grinned and Spencer saw that she had too perfect a set of teeth and concluded that some dentist had charged her high fees for the veneers. Looking her in the eye he could see the crows feet that betrayed her age, despite her toned figure she was easily in her early fifties. Andrea wore an enormous ruby ring together with a broad golden wedding band; you didn't need to be a genius to assume that her husband had money to buy her a ring of that quality. However, she was also confident about her height and still wore high heeled shoes where as a less confident woman would have tried to look of less stature but Andrea seemed to revel in her physical appearance and Spencer liked that. He sensed that she was a no nonsense person and she'd back you if she thought you were right and that was what every agent needed to know when working.

"How's the Jordan case going?" he asked.

"The baby has been hospitalised, poor sweetheart, she has been operated on because of the injuries those butchers caused. The surgeons spent over an hour working on her. Poor little mite had lost a lot of blood by the time she arrived at the hospital, it's a wonder she's still alive!" Andrea shook her head sadly and the grey eyes looked icily cold, "The perps have been sent pre-trial to Baltimore City Detention Centre. Their lawyers asked for solitary confinement but they were warned that would depend on if they had any space for them in the 'solitary' wing. Can't say that will stop me sleeping tonight, their depraved actions don't exactly lead me to worry about how the prison system will look after them until their trial. At least they admitted it but it's the sob stories for mitigating circumstances that will set me on fire! You should hear some of the crap Nate Belton was spewing in his defence already…His lawyer was clutching at straws…There are no mitigating circumstances for what that pair did to a baby that can't even walk yet… Then there was his girl friend, Chelsea Gibbons…she was blaming Belton, 'it was all his idea…I always do what he says because he hits me,'…Don't believe a word of it. I've dealt with abused women and she shows none of the telltale signs!" Andrea ranted and Spencer began to get an indication of the prosecutor in 'nail'em' mood!

"Good to know you're on top of the case," replied Spencer mildly and was glad Andrea was on their side. Tony and Katie grinned, Katie knew this display was mild to what Andrea could do in a courtroom when she played to the audience and their heartstrings. Roy was much more controlled but he also had a court room presence that was commanding and was a force to be reckoned with. Katie trusted both of them to work their hearts out for the unit and they and their staff always gave their total commitment.

"I hear that you live with Judge Petersen's daughter?" Andrea suddenly said.

Spencer's face lit up and he grinned, "Oh yeah, she has already made herself at home and everyone except Tony has met her but she'll be here for the Christmas get together."

"Oh good, her Dad's got a very fine legal mind. I remember debating at Harvard Law School with him…Does she favour her Dad or Mom?"

Spencer laughed, "Well I think she looks a lot like her Dad but if you'd seen her work the bullpen the first Monday afternoon I was here you would have seen her Mom!"

Andrea chuckled, "Oh Margaret has such a reputation with her charity work and having a woman with those skills can only help your career. I hope I can get out of court in time to meet her."

"Well, we're going to be around some months but I'll tell Alan that I've met you," Spencer assured this blond Amazon and he couldn't stop his mind imagining her with a spear in one hand and shield in the other while dressed in a suit of armour. Perhaps, he thought to himself, she was more of a Valkyrie, a Brunhilda!

"Spencer, Oh sorry, Hi Andrea! Are you finished with Spencer?" Danielle's voice broke into his reverie.

"You're looking good!" Andrea announced and Danielle grinned.

"Yes, you can have him back, we were just introducing him to Andrea," Katie said and the two deputies went back to the office they shared.

Spencer noticed that Danielle made no attempt to explain further and assumed that it had something to do with the Rankin case. He closed the door after they reached their lair.

Danielle turned to him, "I think I've identified someone important from one of Nigel's pictures," she said seriously, "We have to handle this very carefully but I want you to check me in case I've made an error but he appears on three occasions in Nigel's material."

Spencer picked up the sense of gravitas in her tone and wondered what she had found and went to stand beside her to view her computer screen.

Danielle's finger's keyed in the security password and brought up the images. Spencer felt a bolt of shock shoot through his system and stared in disbelief, and thought, 'Oh God, this is really going to complicate matters.'

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

**The Interregnum:** Chapter 7

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Spencer picked up Katie's shock along with a mixture of suppressed anger and excitement as she stood between him and Danielle. Danielle was seated in her chair, Spencer stood with his hands in the pockets of his brown cords and Katie stood, her right arm across her body defensively while she rested her chin in her left hand as she mulled over the picture evidence.

"So you picked this up on pure visual?" Katie probed.

"Totally, I couldn't believe what I was seeing as the first picture had him a little obscured behind another client but then a few frames on you get that very good full facial image and then another later. I've still got a few more nights of material to work through, I was trying to initially pick up known faces but when I saw this I called Spencer to check me," Danielle replied quietly her voice still hinting at the shock of her discovery.

"Well this explains why we have only managed to bring the small fry to trial over the past three years, he was able to tip off the big players and they could just disappear back into the woodwork. This is why we have been so secretive, Spencer, we thought we had someone at a high level who was warning people off but now we know that this guy is in deep…Probably being blackmailed to help," Katie explained.

Spencer nodded; this was a difficult situation. They could arrest the man and hope he would co-operate with names and other venue details or they could keep a watch on him and build up a case for leaning on him later, but he wondered what Katie would do.

Katie looked away from the computer screen to find her two deputies staring at her expectantly.

"I'm going to have to discuss this with the Director. Don't either of you tell anyone else…is that understood?"

"Yes," they said in unison, both aware of the importance to keep this secret to protect any future investigations.

"Right, well I'm off to see the top man," Katie suddenly pronounced and headed for the door with swift decisive steps adding, "Spencer you're in charge. Mike should be back from his court appearance soon. I gather he was grilled on the stand but he got across the tracking of the suspects he did through the Internet. Some of the jurors are just not computer literate enough and we have to keep it simple otherwise they turn off with all the jargon."

The office became calm once she had left and Danielle smiled at the young man, "Katie's good at her job but she can seem like static electricity when she's plotting her moves. You'll get used to it, but her terseness with you really means that she trusts you to get on without her…We deputies don't get the praise like the other members of the unit because she just considers us extensions of her thinking…"

Spencer smiled softly at Danielle's ability to inform him about the unit and Katie in particular. He thought that one day Danielle would be a good team leader herself and he thought about the praise that he had received from Carl. The older agent had been supportive since his arrival perhaps because he was well aware that Katie rarely praised Danielle to her face, even if she was careful to give her deputy credit in reports to management.

"I'll go and be seen in the bullpen," Spencer said and Danielle nodded in understanding. He was giving her space to continue her work and by being out in the bullpen other member's of the unit would not disturb Danielle's important task.

Mike turned up and was pleased that he'd be back in the bullpen from Monday. Tony and Melanie took time to fill him in with the week's happenings and he went to help the other men and their special Internet work. The bullpen began to empty soon after 6 o'clock as people put things away. Amanda was nominally 'on duty' in the office over the weekend along with Theresa. Both women were hoping that it would be quiet enough to catch up on their Christmas cards as it was getting too close to the final posting day.

Spencer got home at 6.30 to find the house empty because Jo had been held up at the office over a delayed delivery. She was in charge as both the Bevans were tied up with the 'buildings maintenance' side of things that afternoon.

He knew that they were going to be having the savoury lentil bake and broccoli that evening, everything was ready for cooking but he didn't start anything wanting to wait for Jo's appearance. Spencer made a pot of Earl Grey tea and cut himself a generous slice of Margaret's rich fruitcake. After relaxing over his personal e-mails and spending another hour composing replies, Spencer wandered upstairs and sat in the empty bedroom chair and opened up the wooden chest. He carefully removed the precious purple silk scarf and couldn't help gently stroking the material. Spencer's mind was filled with the memories of his father and the sadness that they had never met again after he had left. Spencer would have liked some measure of closure to understand what pressures had finally been the straw that broke the camels back. However, Spencer had talked with Arthur, Don and Max during his time at the Clinic and each had helped him explore emotionally the possible pressures of his parent's marriage. Spencer's home situation had been complicated; all three of his psychs had stressed that William Reid had not legally separated from his wife, but he had made financial provision for his family, and his appointment in England had only been for three years. It could be argued that his father had intended to return but being killed in an air crash was so unexpected that no one could have factored it into the equation.

Spencer lifted out the precious hand written journal and he was extremely grateful for this very personal part of his father. He knew from the entries that his father had loved both his son and his wife. Max had suggested to Spencer that perhaps William Reid had feared leaving his mother totally on her own because she might have tried to take her own life. Max further argued that by leaving Spencer with his mother, William Reid was perhaps hoping that his presence would prevent his mother totally spurning help and give her some reason for living in her more lucid moments. Spencer had found a couple of journal entries that pointed to her threats in the past that she would be better off dead than alive if he took Spencer away. But tonight Spencer didn't want to explore his father's thoughts and placed the journal reverently on the floor because he was looking for something further down in the chest, something that he had to think about while on his own.

Two more document folders were lifted out and there was the black velvet covered square box that he had hidden. He had bought this a couple of months before thinking that he would give it to Jo for Christmas. Spencer placed the box on his lap and his long fingers opened the clasp, inside the crimson silk lined box sat a circular gold engraved locket. Spencer had seen it in the jewellers and instantly thought of Jo. It was a copy of a nineteenth century design and engraved on the surface was a wren perched on tree blossom. Spencer fancifully imagined that it was apple blossom because it all reminded him of the old apple tree that she had painted and Jo's love of this small bird that was characteristically 'plucky' in temperament compared to its size. The locket opened to provide the space for two photographs while the long gold chain meant that it could easily be worn hidden by clothing. It had been very expensive, the most expensive gift he had ever thought of buying his priceless treasure and he wondered if she would like it.

Spencer knew what he wanted to say with this gift but was it the right time? Perhaps he should leave it until her birthday next year and buy her another Christmas gift. He looked at the open box before him totally transfixed by the engraving and all the emotions caught up in the gift, so many emotions that even as a genius he could not find the words to adequately express them.

It was not just any gift; perhaps she would refuse once she realised the significance it held.

"Spencer! Spencer!"

Jo stood a couple of feet away from Spencer and he still seemed to be lost in thought and she toyed with the idea of touching him but then she saw what had his attention. She thought it a beautiful piece of jewellery and so unusual as lockets were unfashionable these days. Jo wondered if it was a family heirloom as it had obviously come out of his chest from the look of the other things neatly piled on the floor nearby.

Spencer was suddenly conscious that the room had changed, he was no longer alone and as he drew back from his inner thoughts, he was aware of a familiar hint of jasmine based perfume. He looked up to find his Jo looking at him with an open gentleness, in Spencer's mind she was the epitome of all the warmth of emotions he could feel for another.

"Are you all right?" Jo asked softly of this man who looked very vulnerable at that moment. Jo's own black eyes seemed to momentarily bewitch him and she sensed Spencer's apprehension.

"I…Yes…I didn't hear you come in," he fumbled with words that just seemed all wrong for his mood.

Jo was not sure what to do, perhaps there were unhappy memories associated with the locket….

"Jo," he suddenly plunged in before he analysed this moment too deeply and talked himself out of it.

"Jo, I bought this for you before we left Virginia…I know that you're very conscious of your left hand and wouldn't want attention brought to it by an engagement ring so I thought a locket might …." Spencer broke off realising that it had all come out wrong. He took a deep breath and tried again but the words just didn't come and he felt tears beginning to form and that further embarrassed him. Spencer looked down trying to gain control but he felt her right hand reach out and stroke his cheek and he looked up into black eyes that engulfed him in their comforting warmth and understanding.

"I love you Spencer Reid," Jo told him simply and Spencer just needed to hug her for all the trust and tolerance that were entwined within those words that seemed so inadequate to cover the depth of human feeling.

Jo suddenly found Spencer rising in one swift movement and he hugged her close and seemed to be drinking in her very physical appearance. She instinctively just let him hug her knowing that he had missed out on this physical contact as a child and that he loved to silently cuddle close to her.

"What I was trying to say is that I love you and I wondered if you would consider marrying me but if you think its…"

"Spencer, stop analysing… now let me see if I've got this right…You've bought the locket instead of an engagement ring?" she asked looking up at his enormous expressive eyes that revealed hope mixed with an undercurrent of fear.

Spencer swallowed apprehensively, "Yes," he managed but it sounded like a whisper in the room. He felt sick at the thought of possible rejection. As a psychologist he knew why…it was the effect of his father's abandonment all those years before. Deep down he feared that Jo too might abandon him and reject the love that he offered her. Spencer looked down into dark eyes that seemed to glow with a strange intensity.

"That's really wonderful of you…I mean to think about why I'd not like an engagement ring …Don't look so fearful," she gently teased, "Who else would I marry? We've both faced our mortality unlike a lot of couples who are just playing at life…Yes, I want to be your wife but I don't want any fuss, and no long engagements either…"

Spencer grinned, it was a dreadful unromantic proposal but his Jo understood and that was all that mattered.

"I've got an idea," Jo said as she hugged him, "I've been thinking about your Christmas present but how about we just get a family friend to marry us. There's Harold, he's one of Dad's colleagues, and he's a real sweetie. It would be a priceless present, no time to get nervous and no time for the family to go into 'wedding mode' so we would keep control of it and you'd feel more comfortable with it being a small quiet and personal civil ceremony. We would just tell the family and if they could be there that would be fine and if not we'd understand because its just the legalisation of our partnership…."

Spencer stood speechless, he'd not thought beyond actually proposing and that hadn't gone to plan…but Jo had hit the nail on the head as usual.

"Harold would do this for us…I mean its short notice?" he said and remembered that Harold was also the name of one of Jo's bears.

"But we're both still resident in Virginia because you kept your apartment," she countered.

Spencer warmed to the idea, "No time to get nervous, no special clothes and none of those false speeches and well really just having your parents, Craig, Melinda and the kids along with Marilyn and Jeff… they're the only ones who are important. My mother wouldn't be able to make the trip and probably doesn't want to know as it would upset her world and my place in it," he said and really liked the sound of it. He could send e-mails later and those people who knew him well, like the Bishops, would accept it as the way he usually liked to quietly do things… "You don't mind?"

"Spencer, I was a bridesmaid at Craig's big wedding. I've been a bridesmaid to three other friends and I honestly just don't want that sort of spectacle. This would be what we are …no false image or fuss... just what we really feel for each other and my parents would understand. You'd feel comfortable with Harold; he and his wife Mary were very kind to me when I came home from New York. Mary would even drive me places if Mom had commitments with her hospital fundraising work. Harold would be thrilled, honestly, I've only to ring him and he'd be over the moon."

"I think we ought to personally go and ask him...I'd like to assess his reaction to the request," Spencer said with a quiet serious tone.

Jo burst out laughing and after she had regained control said, "I know you never really switch off from being a criminal profiler but really Harold is trustworthy and a great friend of the family. I'm sure he'll be delighted, but if you're not on call this weekend, we could drive to see my parents and drop in on Harold en route…That way we could tell the family that it's all settled and that will stop my Mom and Aunt Marilyn plotting…"

"Yeah, let's do that," replied Spencer and felt the world slip comfortably into place once more. Life may be getting complicated with the unfolding cases at the CACU but he knew that as long as he could come home to a place where he was loved and settled then he would cope with whatever turmoil the unit could throw his way.

Aaron Hotchner turned into his road and instantly recognised his sister in law's car. He wondered why Louise was here, it was nearly 7:30 and usually on a Friday night she had a Pilates class.

The pyjama clad Jack ran to him as soon as he opened the door. Aaron reached down and swung him up high, his giggling making Hotch grin at the wonderment of the pleasures of young children.

"Aaron!" Hayley beamed at him and Hotch was instantly alert to her mood, there was an excitement and eagerness to her manner that had not been seen for some time.

"Hello Louise, how's things?" he asked sensing that something of importance had been discussed before his appearance.

Hayley's younger sister looked a little uncomfortable and seemed reluctant to meet his eyes, which only served to feed Hotch's suspicions that something was brewing.

"Oh, I'm fine, I've been keeping busy," she responded and seemed subdued in contrast to Hayley's upbeat mood.

Aaron looked to Hayley for a clue. Louise's partner had been sent to Hong Kong on an initial three-month posting but had recently accepted a permanent position teaching languages there.

Hayley's eyes sparkled, "Louise came over with some special news and an offer, a very generous and special offer," she replied to her husband's unasked question.

"What's special?" he asked wondering about the sisterly subtext that he was not party to and turned to stare at Louise.

Louise felt herself squirm before his searching gaze and her mouth felt dry but Hayley was so certain that he would understand and agree to the proposal. Louise felt at little sick at this scrutiny but she knew that she had to tell him.

"I'm pregnant and I don't want an abortion, but I thought that you and Hayley might want to have the baby. I could tell people that I was being a surrogate Mom for my sister…" Louise said in a rush of words that betrayed her own anxiety at the predicament she was in.

Aaron felt a cold anger rise from deep within him. This was all too typical of the manipulative Louise; she had deliberately come over, before he was at home, to persuade Hayley to get her out of a very difficult situation. Hotch didn't like Louise's tactics behind his back, deliberately suggesting the very emotive issue of surrogacy when Louise was aware of Hayley's history of recurrent miscarriage.

"I take it that the father is not Ethan," he said icily as he looked at her still slender figure that showed no obvious signs of pregnancy.

"No, it was a foolish mistake about 10 weeks ago. The guy's happily married with three children and …well it happened, but you know that I'm pro-life and I'd rather give you the baby because you know I'm hopeless, I've no maternal leanings and Ethan doesn't want children."

"No, that's why he had a vasectomy," Hotch replied softly and part of him was pleased that he saw Louise wince to be reminded of her absent partner.

Hayley jumped in to prevent Aaron seeing all the negatives of the proposal.

"It would be perfect Aaron, you know that we have always wanted a second child and it doesn't look like I will be able to carry another. Louise says that she'll agree to any legal papers you draw up for the private adoption. But saying that it's a surrogate pregnancy will help everyone…Ethan need never know the truth," Hayley interjected and hoped that Aaron would see things from her standpoint and all the anguish she had gone through to have Jack and the recent miscarriages that she'd endured.

"Are you really sure about this?" Hotch probed Louise because he didn't want Hayley to get all excited and then Louise change her mind at the last minute.

"Absolutely," she asserted meeting his searching eyes, "I made a silly mistake and realise how much I love Ethan but this is a way for him to accept me being pregnant without breaking our relationship. Ethan is going to stay in Hong Kong and there is a chance of further work in mainland China. I could join him there as soon as the baby is born…I will enter any arrangements you want to prove to you how sincere I am about this."

Aaron was silent thinking carefully about all that must have been discussed before he arrived.

"Shall I get you a drink of coffee while I finish preparing the meal?" Hayley asked her husband and he was aware of the pleading look she gave him. Aaron nodded his assent and removed his suit jacket, an action that enabled him to mentally prepare his next moves.

"I know an excellent family lawyer who will be more than happy to draw up the adoption papers but also the agreement about the pregnancy. I think that it would be a good idea if Hayley goes with you to all the antenatal appointments, that way she will feel part of the pregnancy and the medical staff will know about the arrangement from the start. I want Hayley to attend the birthing classes with you and be with you during labour so the baby can be held by her straight away and that will all help the bonding process," Hotchner calmly asserted while Hayley was in the kitchen.

"I'll do anything you ask," Louise repeated, "I wouldn't want to continue with this pregnancy if you and Hayley didn't want the child. It was a stupid mistake and I just want a good outcome but I don't want to face an abortion and I'd rather that you adopted the baby, not strangers."

Aaron gave her another searching look. He concluded that she was scared of him and her present predicament but he didn't like how she had spoken to Hayley first without him being there.

"I don't want Hayley hurt, Louise, you had better be sure because we are going to start telling people tonight so if you suddenly start feeling maternal it will be too late. If you change your mind you will break Hayley's heart and the rest of the family will be told the truth and do you think Ethan would accept another man's child when you had an affair behind his back?"

"It was not an affair," Louise quickly responded, "It was a stupid one night stand for both of us and we just wish it had never happened but I just can't force myself to get rid of it. I thought about taking the 'emergency morning after pill' the day after it had happened but I thought because I'm in my late thirties that my fertility wouldn't be that good and it was only the one time."

Hotch looked at her and sensed that she was telling the truth but part of him didn't like the fact that this would also involve deceiving Ethan. He didn't like Ethan that much but he did instinctively feel that Ethan loved Louise and wasn't the sort of man to have one night stands.

"Tell me about the father," Hotch commanded as Hayley returned with a tray of freshly brewed coffee for the three of them and Jack was crunching a carrot stick behind her. Jack came and sat on his father's knee and remained quiet as if sensing that the adults were talking about something serious. Hayley came to join Aaron on the couch while Louise perched herself on the edge of the comfortable winged- backed chair.

Louise swallowed down the coffee to lubricate the dryness of her mouth and throat; three pairs of eyes were staring at her, waiting for her to speak.

"Jonathan is a deputy principal of the Mount Braden School. He's been married for 15 years and has three children, all boys, the eldest is 10 and the youngest 3 years of age. His wife, Zoe, is a French and Spanish teacher at the school. They both have Master degrees in Education and have only worked in teaching since leaving university. They met while studying in at the University of Colorado. They are practising Catholics and both of them have reputations for being very committed teachers and Christians."

Hayley smiled at her, she thought that Aaron was accepting the situation already and that it would be all right. Things like this had happened to many families in the past where a sibling took the illegitimate child and brought it up as their own. Present day laws meant that such children now had to be legally adopted but it was an ideal solution, this baby would have half her sister's genes and no one would be the wiser if they all played the surrogate card.

Aaron Hotchner felt as if he'd been trapped in a corner. If he objected, then Hayley would be upset and there was the possibility that she would be plunged into a depression knowing how much she wanted another child. On the surface it was an unexpected opportunity to complete their family and give Jack a longed for sibling, but he felt that Louise was an unknown quantity in the equation. At the moment she may not want the baby but hormones affect pregnant women, usually to prepare them to be protective and nurturing towards the baby as their pregnancy progresses. Hotch felt that he had to take control of the situation and make the law work in their favour, although he knew that if Louise suddenly reneged on the deal that any subsequent court case would be messy and he set out to remind the women of this fact.

They continued to discuss these matters over dinner but after Hayley had cleared the table, Hotch turned to Louise once more when they had a few minutes on their own while Hayley took the sleepy Jack to his bed.

"Are you really sure now we have looked at all the issues involved? If you try to renege on the arrangements we make, I promise you that I will fight for custody of the child. If that happens, then all your lies will be exposed and it will break your relationship with Ethan. Your sister, Caroline, will not like the fact that she has been kept out of this as well," he warned her in a low voice so as not to be overheard by Hayley if she suddenly returned to the living room.

"I don't know how many times I've got to say this, but I don't want any say in the upbringing of this child and it seems likely that Ethan and I are going to be on another continent anyway. I'll hand over the child when it's born and join Ethan as soon as the doctors say its safe for me to travel," Louise whispered, her voice holding its own quiet intensity of conviction.

Aaron nodded and Hayley walked back into the room.

"Well, Jack's fast asleep, he was well away as soon as his head touched the pillow. So what are we going to do now?" Hayley asked to break the sombre undercurrent she sensed in the room.

"I think we ought to ring your sister and tell her the wonderful news that Louise is playing the surrogate Mom for us and we're all delighted. I'll use my mobile to call Farah Jeavons to draw up the legal documents for the pregnancy and adoption. Farah is an expert in such matters," said Hotch with a smile to the two women.

"Oh…yes that's perfect," replied the happy Hayley and reached for the phone.

Louise felt that her next 6 months were not going to be her own but it was a small price to pay to keep her relationship with Ethan.

"Hi Caroline…You'll never guess but Louise is playing the surrogate Mom for me and she's pregnant at the first attempt …We're thrilled! I'm so excited and it was so kind of Louise to offer after the last miscarriage…."

Hotch listened to the delight in Hayley's voice and knew that Louise was now tied into the arrangement. He took his mobile and went over towards the kitchen to call Farah. He briefly explained the situation of his sister in law playing the surrogate mother for them and that now she was pregnant. Farah understood what was required as she had built up a reputation for dealing with such cases. She always made sure that the interests of the surrogate, the future parents and the child were all carefully catered for. Hotch broke off his phone conversation with Farah,

"Louise, can you come with us to see Farah at her Washington office on Tuesday afternoon…she can make it as late as you like?" Aaron Hotchner called across the room to where the two sisters were standing and Hayley was excitedly telling their eldest sibling the news. Hotch saw Louise look back wide eyed as a flash of momentary fear and indecision crossed her face before her steely core took over and she called calmly back,

"Any time after 4:30 will be fine with me."

Hotch made an appointment for them all for 4:45 for the following Tuesday. Farah assured him that they were welcome to bring Jack if they had problems with childcare because Barbara, the secretary, loved children and there were lots of toys and books in the office. He put away his cell and knew that he would be feeling a lot better about all of this when Louise had signed the agreements that Farah was an expert at drawing up. Whatever happened, Aaron Hotchner was determined to protect his wife and this was the best way forward for them and this unborn child.

Katie Cole closed her door and placed the house keys on the console table nearby. She shrugged off her beige coloured heavy wool coat and placed it in the closet and kicked off her brown leather pumps. It had been a long day and she felt tired and did not at all feel like making a meal for herself. She switched on the living room light and drew across the drapes and then padded across the wooden floor to the sideboard. She took a whisky tumbler from the cupboard and chose the bottle of sweet sherry from the assorted bottles neatly arranged on an attractive pewter tray. Katie poured herself a generous glass and took the glass and bottle with her to the couch. She sat and placed her feet on the nearby coffee table and enjoyed the fact that she could behave in this manner without anyone criticising her actions. The sweet liquid slipped down gently, it was not biting like whisky but was warm and feminine as it hit her stomach.

Katie leaned back into the soft cushions and thought about the last few hours. The Director had been very supportive and as surprised as she had been over the evidence against the experienced employee. It was decided that this man would be closely watched and his calls and e-mails monitored for the time being. They had discussed how best to proceed into the New Year when they suspected the 'under age' venues would re-start. The Director agreed to put a plant into the man's department in the hope that they would strike up a deeper friendship and more evidence would come to light. For the moment, it was too close to Christmas to get things into place but they would be using people unknown to the Washington area and the suspect.

Katie poured herself another generous glass of the deep red liquid; she closed her eyes savouring the texture of the silky sherry as she drank. She was grateful for the excellent team that she had around her and felt that Danielle and Spencer had forged a good working relationship very quickly and that the pair were totally trustworthy. The Director had asked how Dr. Reid was settling in with the predominantly female CACU. Katie had told him how impressed she was at Reid's ability to hit the ground running and that she didn't think twice about leaving him in charge and she thought that he'd be fine when Danielle was on medical leave.

Katie remembered how Danielle's first pregnancy had meant that she had left her post at nearly 6 months pregnant but before that there had been days when she had been unable to keep down any food and even water had been a problem in the early months. In effect, it had meant that her very capable deputy had not been working at even half her usual ability. The unit had pulled together and it was a time when everyone had found themselves taking on more and more of Danielle's workload. At least this time they were expecting the worst and so far this pregnancy didn't seem to be having the same effect on Danielle's body. She had even remarked that the morning sickness was just that and at least this time she was managing to keep some food down during the day. Katie smiled to herself; she was glad that she was not able to have children because it had made her own life so much simpler. She never had to find baby sitters and childcare and never felt guilty about the demands of the job on her social life. Katie felt pleasantly relaxed and slipped into sleep on the couch. It was becoming a more frequent occurrence over the past couple of months, but who would know, Katie Cole now lived a solitary life.

End of Chapter 7.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Interregnum: Chapter 8**

**by Helena Fallon.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

It was not a normal Monday at Quantico, today was the afternoon when there was an informal get together of staff with their partners. The Director and his wife circulated around the different divisions of the organisation being charming and full of the seasonal bon homie. The women especially usually brought a change of clothing for the late afternoon socialising and the men tried to match their smartness, with some of them also changing, but most just wore a better suit and smarter tie to work. The staff would quietly slip away to change while their colleagues covered for them and the general atmosphere of all the departments was upbeat.

Derek Morgan proudly introduced Angela to his colleagues and superiors as "My fiancée." There were many smiles and congratulations and appreciative looks by the women at the large square diamond, with a ruby either side, on her finger. The BAU for their part were surprised and many of the partners took time to talk to the new-comer. Angela looked elegant in her teal coloured tailored suit and Morgan enjoyed the attention they received from Erin Strauss and the Director, both of whom took time to talk to Angela about her career and interests.

Morgan was annoyed that Garcia didn't spend more time with them but after the initial pleasantries Garcia had moved on. At first Morgan thought that she was being diplomatic and giving the couple space to hold court with their news but then he began to doubt his initial assessment. Penelope Garcia looked stunning, far slimmer than Morgan could remember and she was wearing a very sophisticated dress that stood out because it was not in her usual gaudy colours. The computer expert had passed on further down the room and was attracting a lot more attention than he thought she warranted, afterall she had not got engaged…she had only lost some of her fat.

"Must have cost him a few months salary," muttered Erroll Hart out of their hearing, "But I don't think it will last."

"No…Angela seems a very sweet person and totally under his spell, but I'm not sure that she will be able to stop him from straying into his more wild ways," Barry whispered as he filled a glass with the warmed apple juice flavoured with cinnamon. "I don't think Morgan can be tamed that easily and I believe this is Morgan putting on a good show to impress management that he's finally settling down."

Erroll sipped his soda and nodded hoping that the lovely Angela would not get too hurt or led astray by the more worldly agent. Erroll Hart knew that Morgan did not trust people and this affected all his relationships and meant that he only felt secure if he was in control of any situation.

Jennifer Jareau was looking stunning in a knee length figure hugging scarlet dress that was the most expensive she had ever bought, it had been an extravagance but she felt like treating herself, and it fitted her new image. The make over included her new hair style that was now cut much shorter. The new cut revealed her slender neck and jaw line as the beautiful shiny golden curtain of hair fell level with her chin and shaped itself around her head from a slightly off centre parting. Her barely noticeable makeup gave her a natural appearance but any woman in the room would have recognised the skill to acquire such a finished understated look. Agent Jareau turned heads and she liked the feeling of her feminine power to attract appreciative glances. As different departments from her floor began to mingle, she noticed how she attracted the unattached even if she wasn't interested in anything continuing outside this gathering.

J.J. had spent a little time chatting with Morgan and Angela.

"So you're going with Derek to Chicago for Christmas?"

"Oh yes, I'm really looking forward to seeing his Mom and sisters for Christmas. We leave on Friday night and come back on Tuesday and then we'll spend the New Year with my Mom and Aunt," Angela beamed, her whole stance screamed out to any observer that she was a happy woman.

J.J. couldn't stop the memory of the time the team had met Mrs. Morgan and the secrets that her son had kept to himself when he should have spoken up to protect other boys against Carl Buford.

J.J. thought Angela a lovely sensitive woman but she also felt a sense of doom about the relationship. Angela didn't seem to her to have the backbone of steel that partners needed to cope with the demands that the FBI put on any relationship. There was also a certain doubt that she also could not suppress that Derek Morgan was using Angela for his own ends. Agent Jareau thought that Morgan was obviously trying to show the upper echelons that he had calmed down and was ready for marriage. Perhaps he thought that this would push him up the 'promotion ladder' but Jareau believed that Morgan had probably already found his natural level in the organisation, even if he was not content with it.

J.J. had not forgiven this man for his bullying of Spencer Reid. Morgan would never see it as such, in his mind he was merely teasing. But to others, who had witnessed his behaviour, it was a thin line and he had at times crossed it. She knew that Morgan's behaviour merely reflected his own experiences growing up, but not every child who is bullied turns out to be a bully themselves. The sensitive ones, who learn from their childhood experiences, never knowingly inflict such pain to others.

Penelope Garcia was the real surprise of the afternoon and she was revelling in the attention she was receiving as she held court near the narrow windows to the far end of the spacious conference hall. Here, at the opposite end of the room, the dividing doors had been folded back to reveal the tables of food and drinks for the guests in another large room that usually acted as an ante room during disciplinary hearings. However, on this afternoon it was decorated with holly and poinsettias and the varied colours of the assembled guests.

"Penny you look fantastic," Emily enthused at the attractive woman before her.

"You don't think I've over done it with this dress?" Penny asked revealing her self doubt in the question.

Emily Prentiss was herself impeccably turned out in a classic cerise Dior design. It was a tailored dress with a plain round neck, simple long sleeves and required the wearer to have a tall and slender figure to carry it off. Emily had the figure and the poise and today she was also showing off her new hair style, a much shorter cut and light perm that framed her face and emphasised her beautiful eyes. She had grown out the 'bangs' and vowed to herself never again! George had complimented her on the new softer style and said that it was far more attractive than her previous one. To complete her ensemble, she was wearing a necklace of jet that further highlighted her dark hair and was a gift from George.

"No…You look…marvellous and all woman! There has not been a man enter this room without glancing in your direction and appreciating the vision in black silk," Emily continued, "It must have cost you a lot…"

"Actually, it's only a copy but the dressmaker was recommended by a friend in New York. When I went for the weekend I made an appointment and had a fitting because I wanted something really special. This was from her 'already made' rail and only needed minor alterations so I was able to bring it home with me. I'll admit that it was more than I usually spend but I bought a couple of dresses that I thought were classy and wouldn't date too much so I'd be able to wear them more than once…" she shyly confessed.

"Well this dress shows off your new figure beautifully and why shouldn't a woman show off her collar bone and bosom when she has the figure to wear a plunging neckline. I'm so small breasted that they don't really suit me so I'm very envious! I think its great that you've lost all that weight and you look so well and your new glasses show your cheekbones and don't distract from your lovely eyes. You know that rimless style, with the gold decorative arms, complete the more sophisticated look."

"You mean I'm not garishly in your face like my usual extrovert wardrobe!" Garcia grinned with pure mischief and honesty.

Emily laughed, "Penny, you love your colours which is why this transformation is so unexpected and you are definitely turning heads…and," she whispered conspiratorially, "I think you're getting more appreciative looks than our other blond bombshell!"

The two women laughed together and glanced towards the other BAU blond being a social butterfly and looking as if she was enjoying every second at that moment.

"Is a mere male allowed in on the joke?" George asked handing Emily the spiced apple juice she had requested.

Female eyes bore into him and he felt as if the gulf between the sexes had opened wide and was about to swallow him up him if he wasn't extra careful.

"George, I love you," Emily smiled gently at him sensing his discomfort.

"We were just indulging in some girl talk but it's time to close the door on that and circulate," replied Emily Prentiss with the ease of one who had spent years socialising and working a room for the purpose of networking. Before Emily had finally got transferred to the BAU, she had spent every opportunity at such events to let her wishes for future placements to be known amongst influential personnel. She had finally escaped the Midwest and found that the BAU had not been how she had imagined. However, she worked very hard to adjust and began to fit into the team even if there were times, in those early months, when she questioned her reason for wanting the placement.

Max Pentall made a point of quietly observing while his beloved Anna charmed her way around the room with him in tow. He liked to let Anna do the talking once he'd introduced his wife to people as they were more likely to feel more comfortable talking to her than the Head of Mental Health Services. He loved to see the surprised expressions on the faces of Quantico staff when they met Anna for the first time. He had long ago concluded that these people rarely thought of him as having a normal home life and a contented marriage but those invited to his home knew the truth. Max wandered over to the drinks to fill his glass with water; he never drank wine at these functions, preferring to keep a clear head. He had invited Reid and his Jo to drop by on Friday evening if they had the time. Anna was intrigued to meet a real genius, they were so rare, even if she was herself married to one. Max smiled at the thought as he filled his glass.

"Now I know that smile…its one for off duty and well away from here," whispered the Director who had come to replenish his own glass with soda.

"Anna hopes to meet Reid soon, if he's not working on Friday evening. He e-mailed to accept my invite but said that they would have to leave by 11 o'clock as they had other plans in Virginia the next day."

The Director nodded thoughtfully and whispered, "Is he still concerned about our special lady?"

"I had a group dynamics report sent on to me with a special observation of her, Arthur is on to it," Max softly replied.

"Adam Priest is very impressed with him, says he's worth treble his weight in gold!"

Max looked into twinkling eyes and shared the joke, "He's one of those very fortunate people who can eat anything and burns it off."

"Oh to be young and super active again," replied the Director playfully. But Max knew that this man was very careful to exercise and walked round the golf course trundling his own bag of clubs rather than driving a golf buggy.

"Well, I must admit I didn't expect Agent Morgan to be one of those getting engaged this Christmas, so that's another name to mention at the end of this get together. I must say that Garcia, from the BAU, is looking tremendous!"

"Yes, she looks really stunning tonight and much healthier," remarked Max gazing at the vivacious woman who radiated self-confidence at that moment. But he also caught the looks that Morgan was giving her, there was a mixture of disbelief and annoyance, perhaps he didn't expect to be upstaged by the BAU's technical analyst. Anna was suddenly beside him.

"Who's the beautiful blond with the envious curves?"

"You don't recognise her?"

"No, Max, that's why I asked."

"She has just emerged as a beauty after being obese and has spent years being ignored by most of the men presently around her. But Penelope Garcia is too wise a woman and will see through them all. Come along I'll introduce you. Garcia's a very intelligent and sensitive woman who usually hides away in her little room with her computers."

They made their way over to Garcia and Max smoothly introduced his wife and then quietly left the two women.

"Penny, I have to congratulate you on losing so much weight, you look terrific!" Anna praised and Penelope gave her an open smile of trust. Garcia intuitively liked Anna Pentall who was amiability personified in Garcia's eyes. Anna's warmth melted people's reserve and she was so easy to relax with unlike her husband, who frankly frightened Penelope by just holding the position he had in the FBI.

"I decided to take control of myself before I lost my health and I'm so glad that I plucked up the courage to go to a slimming club. I've made several new friends and we always ended up having a laugh together and after some days here I really appreciated that!"

Anna nodded in understanding, "I'm admiring the dress, you have a very good eye for making the most of your transformation."

Garcia smiled and leaned in closer to share her secret, "A New Yorker made this; once she's got your measurements she'll run things up at a reasonable price…I could never afford the real designer label but she and her daughters have a gift and are never without work!"

"Wish I could make my own clothes like that but she's a treasure… So she's reasonable with her charges?"

The conversation continued into the very important regions of finance and getting a good bargain for your money. Anna had never been a woman to fritter money away, even if her husband was paid a good salary, and would not on principle pay the inflated prices some designer labels demanded. Anna appreciated Penelope's choice because a near copy beautifully made, in a material that you liked, was just as unique as a fancy designer label.

The next afternoon the same procedure was being followed for the Christmas get together at College Park. The CACU was no different to any other department; the wives and partners of the personnel enjoyed this annual coming together that often helped to forge new friendships for those who had recently transferred into the area.

The wives were all eager to meet Jo. They had the reports of her initial appearance but it was not the same as personally meeting a fellow woman who shared their stresses of being the partners of agents.

Jo was determined to not be late and to be her mother's daughter…the perfect listener and to show everyone she met that she was Spencer's partner and proud to be so. She looked forward to meeting others in her position, although she already felt that Shelley Kramer was a friend to share a coffee and chat with when their men were not around.

Jo had only worked at the Fairfax Estates office in the morning and came home to leisurely prepare for her appearance at the College Park complex. Spencer had said that the agent in over all charge was an Adam Priest and he and his wife would certainly expect to be introduced to her.

She had carefully chosen an outfit in a heavy jacquard silk. It was an 'A line' long sleeved dress in a dark leaf green with a round neck. It was a personal favourite because of the hand embroidery in gold and silver thread of tiny rose-like flowers around the neck and for three inches around the hem. There was a matching box jacket with similar embroidery on the collar and cuffs. She put on soft black leather shoes with kitten heels to complete the outfit. Jo looked at the ensemble in the bedroom mirror and placed her hand to her neck and manoeuvred the locket on its long gold chain into view. It would only be seen if she undid the jacket but she felt that the locket complimented her outfit. They had decided to tell no one at the unit of their engagement because they didn't want any undue attention. They were both very private people and for them the locket was a symbol of their personal commitment to each other just like a wedding ring would be.

The previous Saturday they had driven over to her parents and stopped to call in to see Harold and to ask if he would marry them in his Chambers on the Christmas Eve…

"We don't want any fuss but we do want a formalisation of our partnership. We're just keeping this a family affair just in case Spencer is called into work at the last moment…" Jo explained in Harold's living room over coffee. Mary was busy with her charity work that morning and Harold knew that he would be interrogated when she got home about this unexpected visit.

Harold beamed at the couple; his pleasure at being asked to conduct the procedure was all too evident.

"Jo…Spencer, I'd be delighted and I understand about your work, Spencer. But this is wonderful news…Do your parents know?"

"No!" Spencer found his voice and then thought that perhaps it sounded a bit too loud and sharp…"You see we wanted to have it all arranged so we could tell them over lunch today. We hoped that by keeping things small and quiet that the family won't have time to go into 'wedding mode'."

"Ah, yes!" replied Harold thoughtfully remembering the weddings of his four sons and the months of planning along with some anguish over catering, invitations, the brides' dresses, the choosing of bridesmaids so as not to offend family or friend's children. Then there was the etiquette with difficult family situations. Harold particularly remembered when Chloe's father was bringing wife number three but the bride also wanted her own mother and wife number two to attend aswell…

"I think you're both being very wise to try and keep things as quiet as you two want. It's not about putting on an ostentatious display of food and wealth…It's really about you as a couple wanting to be legally committed to one another. The actual legal procedure is very short, compared with the time it takes to complete the paperwork ready for the licence. If your work takes precedence then we'll just find another time to fit it in won't we?" Harold said as he smiled with contentment and his round face seemed to shine with the sheer happiness of the task entrusted to him.

Jo grinned and Spencer felt relaxed that Harold completely understood their position. Jo had been right to think that this man was the perfect person to perform the task. The longer Spencer spent time in this house, the more relaxed he felt and then the image of the bear called Harold kept leaping into his mind. It was all too apparant that Harold was definitely the inspiration for that naming. Judge Harold wore flamboyant waistcoats; today it was a very fine striped affair in greens and blues with a renegade fine gold thread suddenly separating the stripes in what appeared to be a random pattern. Harold, the bear, wore a waistcoat too but that was a blue floral pattern with tiny gold buttons. Spencer smiled to himself as he realised that the striped waistcoat had tiny gold buttons too!

"Can I tell Mary when she gets back from Richmond?" he asked, dying to share this good news with someone who wouldn't tell the world.

A hour later they had arrived at home to the smells of lunch about to be placed on the table and the usual warm family atmosphere that Spencer loved so much about being in this house. Alan was eager to tell them about Craig's success at getting a major donation for his Burns Unit that would enable him to pursue plans to increase his staff in the labs.

Suddenly Margaret was placing cheese soufflés on the table and a variety of finely chopped vegetables and the business of eating, while the soufflés were still at their best, became important. Spencer loved the way Margaret made her soufflés, she always made at least two large ones and with different flavoured cheeses. Today she announced that one was a blue veined cheese and the other a rich nutty Canadian cheddar variety. The men sampled both to the delight of the women and Margaret listened to all of Jo's news. Jo told her that she had seen several new clients and had coffee with Shelley Kramer, one her new friends, during the past week. Margaret was pleased that Jo sounded so happy and although Spencer never spoke about his work, he seemed content at that moment even if he looked a little tired.

Margaret carried in a tray loaded with a large dish of 'Eve's Pudding' along with a tub of vanilla ice cream and a jug of cream. She smiled indulgently at Spencer's delight at the dessert as she placed the things on the table.

"You'll take yours with ice cream, Spencer?" she asked with a grin well aware of his twin weaknesses for her cooking and ice cream. She remembered the first time she had met him and how emaciated he had looked. Spencer now seemed to have reached his natural weight again despite her efforts to fill him out a little more.

Soon they were all eating again and the aroma of percolating coffee was drifting in from the nearby kitchen. Margaret decided to ask a question on a subject that she hoped her daughter would have answered without her asking.

" Have you got a new chain, Jo?" Margaret asked as she could see a little of the gold chain although her scarlet cashmere sweater hid the locket from view.

Jo smiled and Spencer thought that she even blushed a little and that was not lost on either of her parents.

"It's very special, Spencer gave it to me," and she stopped eating and drew out the locket.

"Oh My!" exclaimed Margaret when the circular locket was visible, "That's most unusual."

Alan had stopped to observe the scene and Spencer felt that this was probably the best time to say something.

"I bought it instead of an engagement ring," he said softly and Jo's eyes shone his way and they spontaneously smiled at each other.

Alan and Margaret beamed with the happiness that filled the room. Alan was momentarily reminded of the first time he had met Spencer and how naturally he had held Jo's left hand…Of course he'd not draw attention to it with an engagement ring.

"What a thoughtful token of commitment," said Alan softly and he felt emotion swell inside him and he couldn't speak anymore for a few minutes but it didn't stop his wife stepping in.

"Oh this is a wonderful day…We have to ring Craig and Marilyn and ….When did you give it to Jo?" she said turning her attention to Spencer and he thought that he could see tears in Margaret's eyes.

"Last night,"

"Oh it's beautiful, I've never seen anything like this before…Where did you find it?"

"A jeweller's in Alexandria, on Queen Street," he replied and felt the warmth of the family wrap around him.

"And…" began Jo, "We called in to ask Harold to marry us in his Chambers on Christmas Eve. We don't want any presents, speeches or the usual extravaganza…It's not us! If you want to be there to witness us legalising our partnership then that will be good, but we're doing this quietly…quietly Mom, just immediate family. No fancy wedding dress, just ordinary clothes so we feel comfortable, no awful cringing speeches and if Spencer's called away, and things get cancelled at the last minute, then no harm is done!" Jo firmly stated.

Spencer thought he saw a moment of rebellion flash in Margaret's eyes but then it was gone as she listened to the good sense of her stubborn daughter.

Alan suddenly clapped his hands together to get the attention round the table, "Well I think you two have the right idea, and Harold …I bet he's delighted, it was thoughtful of you to choose him Jo…He and Mary have always been fond of you…. I like the idea and we can all come back here for a lunch I hope...At least let your Mom and Marilyn do a meal," he said and the couple understood the meaning of his words and the look that accompanied them.

"Of course, but we just don't want anything overboard…just like a normal lunch but with the family and Harold and Mary if they'll come," conceded Jo but she was determined not to let things escalate. Her parents had experienced the big wedding with Craig and Melinda, it had been all very nice but it just was not what either Spencer or herself wanted.

"Well, actually Harold did suggest that we might like to consider a venue less austere than his Chambers," Spencer interjected and thought perhaps there was merit in Harold's suggestion now he'd seen the Petersens' reactions. Alan and Margaret both gave Spencer their attention. "Harold wondered if you would let us use your study, Alan, because it's a beautifully proportioned room and has that view of the garden and the apple tree that we love…I know its winter but it's still a pleasant view…"

Margaret grinned fighting back her tears and Alan sensed that Spencer was reaching out with a compromise for the family to cherish for years to come.

"Of course you can use my study and Harold is correct, once you've got the licence you can marry anywhere in the state within the 60 day limit. Your Mom and I would be delighted if you would marry here. You can still have anyone you want of course…."

"Don't start escalating it all, Dad," Jo warned again, "We want it quiet, immediate family and Harold and Mary…and no speeches!"

Alan met his daughter's eyes that were the mirror of his own, "I got the message loud and clear and I'll pass it on to Craig," he solemnly said pleased that this was going to be a very special event in this family home. He looked across at his wife who was trying hard to keep her composure but she nodded. Then Spencer did an unexpected thing and reached across the table and gently squeezed Margaret's hand.

"I'm glad we spoke to Harold first because he has helped us see that having a quiet wedding was possible. Otherwise we had considered Las Vegas but we couldn't agree on the type of ceremony," he said softly but his brown eyes twinkled with mischief that made him look much younger than his 28 years.

"I wanted to be married by a Klingon and Spencer here wanted a Vulcan!" Jo joined in the fun.

"Oh god! I'm thankful for Harold's good sense!" replied Margaret in mock horror and they all laughed.

"Right then, I'll ring Harold now and tell him what we've decided," said Alan suddenly rising from the table, "Poor man's probably being dying to tell somebody about your visit…I bet Mary is doing her voluntary session at the Richmond shelter."

Spencer smiled and thought how easy it had all been and both Margaret and Alan seemed to understand their preference to keep the occasion small and quiet. Spencer sat alone drinking coffee while mother and daughter disappeared into the kitchen discussing the details of the 'marriage' lunch. Spencer thought about his own parents. They had never told him about their early life together. He had been uninterested about such things when the wonders of the wider world beckoned his young enquiring and insatiable mind. Perhaps, if his father had not died, William would have talked about such times covering the period before Diana became ill and before their son had been born. In his mind Spencer imagined what it would have been like introducing Jo to his Dad. He firmly believed that William Reid would have liked his choice of partner; the stability of her own personality and of her family would have been understood. Spencer had always known that, after experiencing life in the shadow of his mother's illness, he would seek out for his own partner someone who was unafraid of Diana's medical history and, more importantly, from a solidly warm and normal family.

Spencer looked out of the window and his eyes roamed around the ample garden before his gaze settled on the apple tree that Alan loved to sit under on warm days. It was now just a bare skeleton but the gnarled trunk and twisting of some of its thick branches told of its age, but even without blossom it was beautiful. Spencer missed his father but he knew that William Reid had loved him. Poor man had just reached his breaking point and …

"You all right, Spencer?"

Spencer looked up to find the dark eyes of Alan Petersen looking solemnly at him.

"Sorry, I was miles away. I was appreciating the old apple tree, its beautiful even in winter…Then I drifted into thinking about my father…" he replied honestly and found himself staring into compassionate eyes.

Alan let a sad smile cross his face, "We all must be quite overwhelming at times…I think you had a good father, Spencer, or you wouldn't have turned out to be the good human being you are. Do you think William Reid would have liked our Jo?" he asked suddenly with twinkling eyes.

Spencer grinned, "I was thinking about that and I believe the man I remember would have liked her. My Dad was a modest man, rather like me really, and didn't like fuss and extravagance but he was sensitive to music and the arts…He played the violin and taught me…but when he left, Mom broke my violin and bought me the lute instead…."

Alan sat with his own cup of coffee, quietly listening to the young man who would in a weeks time be marrying his only daughter. Strangely, he felt that Spencer was already one of the family and a legal piece of paper was not going to change things. However, it did mean that if anything happened to Spencer then the FBI would immediately inform Jo and that her position was on a sounder footing than just being the girlfriend. It was all rather old fashioned but being a wife still was ranked above that of a long standing girlfriend.

"Alan, promise me if I ever go like my Mom that you'll persuade Jo to have me taken to an institution. I have taken out special medical insurance just in case…"

"But you are almost past the usual age for schizophrenia, and I thought you explained how the Bureau had concluded themselves that it was your Mom's drug taking that probably triggered her own illness."

"Yes, that's all true but it still haunts me, especially after Henkel. I never ever wanted to try drugs because of the possibility of triggering an episode…and then to be given Dilaudid totally against my will…I was terrified that I would turn into my Mom!"

Alan nodded with understanding. He had made his own enquiries about the effects of drugs and schizophrenia after meeting Spencer and had even made his own private investigations into the Reid family. All that Spencer had ever told the family about his parents had been confirmed. Alan trusted him to be with his only daughter or he'd have put an end to the relationship as soon as it had begun. But Craig had been utterly certain all along that these two would be perfect for one another….

"It's not going to happen Spencer, but Craig and I would be the voice of reason. We would see that you were looked after and Jo taken back into the family and cherished, as she will always be anyway." Alan assured and stopped as he heard the women returning.

"Melinda asked if Lydia could wear a pretty dress and carry a little basket of posies, not exactly a bridesmaid but it would make her feel special… I agreed because I thought you would understand as I'm her only Auntie."

Spencer smiled, "Yeah, she'll steal the show and take the pressure off us and I'm sure she'll charm Harold."

"That's what I said," remarked Margaret, "Anyway, it's all agreed, it will be the usual Christmas Eve lunch…and I've been told you'll be leaving at 5 anyway because you have a concert evening at the Dowland Society."

"Yes, I've promised to play a little for them and Jo as been invited to sing…."

"It will be interesting to see if anyone notices our rings," said Jo and Spencer suddenly thought about another bit of shopping that they had to do that weekend!...

Jo looked out of the window at the sound of a car drawing up outside, it was her taxi but hopefully Spencer would be able to drive her home.

Thirty minutes later she was chatting happily to Adam Priest and Abigail, his wife, both of whom knew her by sight as they were regular attendees of the choir's concerts.

"So you're hoping to join the local College Park choir?" Abigail enthused.

"Yes, I explained to the musical director that I wanted a choir closer to home now we were based in Maryland for a while. It's all rather vague though as to just how long we're going to be here so it's difficult to make very firm plans. But I enjoy my singing and it's a good way to meet people."

Spencer smiled indulgently, he felt superfluous as Jo had a gift for talking to anybody and everybody no matter what their background. It was why he thought that she was like her mother and could imagine in her in twenty years time being another 'Margaret' helping with the fund raising events for some needy cause.

Adam Priest caught his eye and whispered, "Amazing isn't it, we men take ages to lower our barriers but women jump in feet first and start swimming away in the seas of camaraderie and the inevitable gossip."

Spencer's eyes twinkled, "I know that Jo is very capable of making friends for when I'm busy with the work. I think that is how women cope best with an agent's workload and Jo's been busy making acquaintances around Berwyn Heights."

Andrew Simpson had come along to join them while Abigail was busy introducing Jo to Judy Simpson and once again the conversation flowed effortlessly amongst the women.

"Reid here has it all worked out regarding our better halves," Adam softly confided to Andrew.

Andrew grinned, "Of course he has, Adam, Reid's a profiler!"

Adam looked a little shocked at the two men who seemed quite comfortable with this statement.

"You didn't, did you?" Adam asked of the younger agent.

Reid raised an eyebrow as if in a question.

"I mean, you didn't profile your Jo did you?" Adam Priest clarified.

Spencer couldn't suppress the laugh that bubbled up. "Well actually, her brother is a close friend and long before I met Jo he kept saying… "I must introduce you to my sister." So I suppose I was already 'conditioned' as it were to like her but we finally met without warning and then just slipped into a friendship without really having to work very hard at it. I suppose when I think back on those early weeks it was really strange but I felt like I'd known her for years because I already knew Craig and his family."

"Well you two are obviously happy together and we are all delighted that Jo chose to come with you here," Adam replied.

"Me too!" Spencer agreed enthusiastically, "I was scared that she'd say no but it has made my life a lot easier and the work more bearable," he confessed and two pairs of eyes stared at him with compassion. It was never easy to be moved to a new field office and make new friendship groups and often such moves could put a lot of strain on established relationships.

"Spencer!" a familiar voice boomed his way and he turned to see the happy Arthur striding towards him, "Tell me that your Jo is here, I've been longing to meet her and I'll be the first of the Quantico psychs…"

"Why is there some sort of bet on?" a female voice challenged the newcomer from behind. Arthur turned and was confronted by the teasing Jo with all her bewitching charm. Her black eyes took Arthur by surprise and he was speechless for a few moments.

"You have, haven't you?" probed Spencer, sensing a twinge of guilt in reaction to Jo's playful remark. Spencer was determined not to let slip any indication of their coming marriage but he wondered if the Quantico trio of psychs had wagers in that area where he was concerned.

"Mmm…I think we have him, Spencer, I wonder what the bet is?" Jo stepped neatly in to engage in a joint attack on the newcomer.

"I'll take the fifth!" Arthur blurted out and gave her an innocent look but the bewitching eyes searched his brown ones and Arthur felt that he needed to change the subject fast.

"I've brought my Susan and she's longing to meet both of you," he replied in a smooth voice.

"Where is she? I want to thank her for those magazines she let me have…" Spencer said coming to his fellow male's rescue.

Arthur grinned and breathed a little easier, "Talking to Dee, which means she will have all the gossip and insider knowledge required to understand the real power of this field office."

"Women!" muttered Adam in good humour and Arthur lead the way towards his wife.

Susan was just as Spencer Reid had always imagined her to be. As they approached they could see that Susan was impeccably dressed in a midnight blue suit with a cream silk blouse that flattered her middle-aged, gently rounded figure. She was a warm woman with a presence that filled her corner of the room with a gentle good humour. Her round face, twinkling eyes and tendency to often reach across and touch people only emphasised her warm tactile and nurturing nature. She was a kind of mother earth figure who was everybody's favourite babysitter, auntie and when necessary a good listener and keeper of secrets.

"Susan, I've found them," Arthur beamed as he reached her and Dee moved tactfully aside. Dee had spoken to Jo on her arrival at the unit but she always felt out of her depth with the psych department. Reid noticed how she removed herself and wondered if Dee had really understood the nature of his training and that he too was a psychologist.

"Goodness, you really are so thin…Arthur has always said that you were but…I bet you can eat anything and everything!" beamed Susan.

Spencer grinned; he would have liked a mother like Susan because she was so maternal compared with the academic distance of his own mother. Spencer thought that Margaret Petersen and Susan would be natural allies should they ever meet. He suspected that Susan turned her very able talents to at least helping run various Jewish ventures in her community.

"I'm so pleased to finally meet you," Spencer said with an open smile, "I want to say how much I learnt from those 'interior design' magazines you let Arthur bring to me…I put a lot of the ideas into practice when I decorated my apartment."

Arthur groaned at the memory and Jo gave him a questioning look.

"Spencer's not told you about the shopping trip for new clothes that ended up with him filling my car with bargains and paint for his apartment?"

"I've heard Spencer's version but I'm eager to hear your point of view of those events…" Jo replied turning her black eyes on the older man and giving him her full attention.

Arthur was in his element as the raconteur and soon had a small crowd listening to his version of how he discovered that Spencer Reid just loved a bargain! Spencer joined in occasionally adding his memories of finding the wonderful bargains from a store that was having a closing down sale. Laughter flowed, rippling around the room. Jo revealed at the end of the account that she had met Spencer after he had decorated his apartment, which was a shame as she was an interior designer!

"You're really an interior designer!" Susan repeated in an awed tone and Arthur looked towards Spencer.

"Why do I get the feeling that my wife is going to return home full of ideas for some room or other that needs attention…" remarked Arthur as he saw that Susan and Jo were once more deep into conversation about colour trends for bedrooms.

Spencer smiled and then looked more serious, "Sorry Arthur, but it's my turn to man the office for the next hour…I know Jo will be fine without me and she knew I'd be going at this time to cover."

"See you later," Arthur said and watched the agent walk through the assembled people with the assured air of a natural decision-maker and leader. Arthur once again thought how Reid had changed his image to fit the role he was now in. Max had been correct to move him away from his security blanket of the BAU. If he had stayed there he would have slipped back into coasting and would not have been forced to acknowledge the abilities he had even to himself. It was one of the problems with Reid; he was still getting to know just how far his abilities extended. Spencer Reid had probably not even thought about being a deputy of a unit at his young age but it wasn't about age, it was about having the ability to do the work.

"He's a very pleasant young man," Andrew Simpson said softly at Arthur's side, "No one would believe the trauma he has been though."

"No, but we worked hard to gain his trust while he was in the Clinic and if he'd not responded then Max would not have allowed him back in the field. Personally, I think if that had happened, I doubt he would have stayed on in the FBI even on a consulting basis. At the end of the day you can take a horse to water…A patient has to want to be helped at the Clinic or you get no-where really or you just superficially patch a person up." Arthur answered softly and was reminded of Jason Gideon who had put up barriers and successfully convinced his psychs that he was ready to return on a consulting basis. Max had been the sceptical one but he had been outnumbered on the Medical Board. However, in the end, Max had been proven correct that Gideon was not as stable as management liked to believe after his time out following the Boston incident.

"I like how Spencer Reid has been totally open as to why he still gets called in for extra drug tests. He had one yesterday and I bumped into him while he was filling out the usual questionnaire. We had coffee together after and he said that he just thought the best way to deal with it was to be open about his experiences because that way the waters didn't get muddied. Some of the unit had heard rumours about his long sick leave so Spencer just explained what had happened that first afternoon to most people and so the subject hasn't been an issue. Just like this afternoon… he joined in with you over that shopping story…I know you wouldn't have shared that unless you were confident that you were not upsetting Reid."

"Too right! But we've had our coffees and lunches and chatted here so I knew that he has been very open about his time at the Clinic."

"Actually I think he has done us psychs a good favour…You know by being so open about suffering PTSD and being given a highly addictive drug against his wishes. I do feel the Bureau is being heavy handed about the extra drug tests though." Andrew remarked and sipped his mineral water thoughtfully.

"I think its because the Bureau quite rightly has a nil tolerance over drugs. But Reid has obviously coped with everything since his kidnap and that young woman, and her family, have been central to his recovery and self confidence once more at work." Arthur replied watching Jo and his wife chatting away and Judy Simpson was giggling at some remark….

"Judge Petersen's daughter…She has her father's looks and her mother's social ease," added Andrew following his gaze.

Suddenly the room was entered by the awesome presence of Andrea Erikson. Her towering stature was clad in a shiny gentian blue satin creation along with matching blue stiletto shoes.

"Now that is how to make an entrance!" whispered Arthur transfixed by the stunning blond who was sharing a joke with Adam Priest.

"You've never met Andrea?" asked Andrew.

But Andrea had swept her eyes around the room and she saw her target and was striding towards her.

"Goodness, you are your father's daughter, no mistaking a Petersen face!" she boomed with good humour at Jo.

"You must be Andrea Erikson! Dad said he remembers you from Harvard…." Jo replied in kind and suddenly she was involved in another conversation and didn't feel deserted by Spencer for a second.

Meanwhile, Spencer Reid had quietly returned to the Unit and relieved Rick who told him that everything was suspiciously quiet and he hoped it stayed that way for a few days.

Spencer made himself some coffee and sat at Dee's reception desk ready to answer any phone call. He let his eyes roam around the unusually quiet room and thought how strange it was…Reid felt like he'd been here years but it had only been a few weeks. He reflected that he definitely felt he'd aged a good 10 years since he'd arrived but he liked his colleagues, especially the small group of men who obviously enjoyed having one of the deputies as a male to even things up in the unit! All the wives had exchanged numbers with Jo and Spencer liked the idea that Jo would be able to share that 'partner existence'. He liked Chris's wife, Faye, and there had been an instant rapport with Jo because they were nearer in age than the other women but everyone was friendly and the talk soon drifted on to children. Spencer felt like he had entered an exclusive club by having Jo with him and he knew that she was central to his life and was not ashamed to admit it.

Jo slipped into her role so naturally and listened to all their stories about their children but Spencer knew that Jo was not ready for a family herself. They had talked about having children but they were firmly put into the vague future because they both just wanted to enjoy sometime as a couple before the demands of a family affected their careers.

Tony had smiled from the side lines and remarked to Spencer that, although as a unit the agents didn't really socialise outside work, the partners had their own informal support system to cope with their work demands.

Robert's Judy had been a refreshing surprise for Spencer; she was not a die-hard Tolkein fanatic but Star Trek and Dr. Who were far more exciting to her! Spencer had spent several intense minutes discussing the merits of Romulans over Klingons as warrior races in the Trek universe.

Spencer's thoughts turned to the Rankin case and the insider at the Washington Office. Katie had returned from seeing the Director repeating her orders to tell no one and that included everyone from the legal department as they didn't know how far this all went. It was all too apparent that the Bureau was worried but as Danielle had further explained that morning, they had lost too many cases over the past couple of years for it to be a co-incidence. But this guy was in a position to be able to cover his tracks and check up on their cases being prepared for arrests and court. Danielle recalled how they had suspects just disappear hours before arrest warrants were served. Then there were the witnesses who had failed to appear, or just refused to say anything on the stand, and denied any suggestion that they had been intimidated.

Katie assured them that the Director was going to have someone in place as soon as possible after Christmas to keep and eye on the suspect and measures were being put into effect immediately to have his e-mails and calls monitored. It was a high level of surveillance but this man had abused the trust of his position and opened himself up to blackmail. Spencer wondered how the Bureau would deal with this individual when it all came to a conclusion. He was sure that the determination he sensed in both Danielle and Katie would lead to this man being prosecuted and they were not going to let him use his knowledge of the law to wrangle a good deal for himself.

Spencer Reid had to admit that he wanted to see this man punished severely as well. This unit worked very hard to make inroads in the vast ocean of child abuse and, despite only being one of their number a few weeks, he was just as committed as Danielle and Katie in wanting the insider brought to justice. They all took an oath to the job and in this case the insider was participating in the abuse of under-age girls…even if he was so far only shown to be a 'watcher'.

Arthur watched from the sidelines as Katie sipped her apple juice and played the 'social' game. She was an expert at the smile and the attentive look for the guest, who was speaking to her, but once alone the social mask fell away and Arthur watched and mentally made notes.

**The next day at the CACU.**

It was 7:25 a.m. when Katie Cole entered the unit and she automatically went into the kitchen to make a strong mug of coffee. She still wore her beige wool coat as she stood at the counter drinking the first mug and then made a second to take with her to her office.

She passed Amanda, on the way, who had manned the unit overnight with Tony.

"No problems, just the usual monitoring," Amanda reported to her boss as she passed her desk.

"Good, I think we may have curtailed quite a lot with closing down Rankin's club. Where's Tony?" she asked as she sipped the strong liquid.

"He had a call concerning Vernon Barrett… remember the 14 year old runaway from Lancaster County. A Baltimore Shelter thinks they have found him. He was being fed by the Salvation Army and one of the helpers got talking to him…Vernon sounds ready to go home so Tony took off to have a chat with him and to stress that it isn't a Police matter."

Katie nodded and felt a certain pleasure that the links that they had forged over the years with the voluntary groups were holding strong. Sometimes adolescents took off for space when things at home got too heated. It wasn't that they necessarily came from bad homes but it was just a matter of an excess of teenage hormones rampaging and neither the parents nor children could hit the correct note of communication.

Katie continued on to her office and put the mug down as she removed her coat and hung it up on the back of the door. Her phone rang.

"Katie Cole," she said crisply but felt like her head was about to split open.

"It's Tony…I've just had a chat with Vernon Barrett, a runaway from Lancaster County…"

"Yes, Amanda mentioned that you had gone to Baltimore. Are you going to take him home?"

"Yeah, Katie, he's a good kid, just had one of those 'blowing off steam' incidents…I was wondering if you would like to give the good news to the parents if I ring the local police and get him off the missing register."

"Oh that would be a nice pleasure, Tony, " she said calling up the boys details on the computer screen. "Give me 10 minutes and then I'll let you know their reaction but I'm sure they'll want to speak to him. What's he doing now?"

"Tucking into breakfast! I'll get on to the register then…Bye for now,"

"Bye, Tony!" Katie put down the receiver and then dialled Vernon's home number in Pennsylvania.

"Charlie Barrett" answered a tired middle aged sounding voice.

"Good morning Mr. Barrett, I have some good news. My name is Dr. Katie Cole from the Crimes Against Children Unit in Maryland. We had a phone call this morning from the Salvation Army Shelter in Baltimore and one of my agents went to answer the request. Your son Vernon is there at the moment eating breakfast and I just wanted to talk with you before I tell my agent to call you so you can speak to Vernon yourself…"

Katie could hear the man breathing hard in his effort to control his emotions and then calling out shakily for his wife, "Tina…Tina…Vernon's been found and he's all right…There's a lady on the phone from some Unit in Maryland come and listen…"

Katie loved to start the day giving good news and it raised her own spirits to be able to explain that a runaway was all right and wanted to return home. She assured the Barretts' that she would get her agent to drive Vernon safely home. But she just wanted to explain how things might be at first and how they could ease the home coming for both Vernon and the rest of the family. The Barretts' appeared to be basically a good and caring family and they were eager to try any support that Katie might be able to arrange over the coming weeks.

She finally called Tony with the news that the parents were eager to talk to their son and that they were willing to have any help to try and avoid a repeat of the last three days. Katie had just ended the call when there was a sharp rap on her door.

"Come!" she called but winced at the effect of raising her voice.

She was very surprised to see Arthur along with a thick file.

"Oh is it that time of year again?" she asked wearily eyeing the folder.

Arthur smiled, "Sorry but you know we psychs…it may be Christmas but we still like to have a preliminary chat with the heads of units before annual psych reviews. Andrew and I hope to begin them after Christmas."

Katie stared at him and really didn't feel at her best this morning, "Well where would you like to start?" Katie invited.

"Is there anyone you are particularly concerned about or anything not in their personal files that we should know?" asked Arthur keeping his voice gentle and his eyes ever alert at her reactions.

"No, we're actually functioning quite well at the moment as a unit. Well you know Spencer…probably better than anyone here, but he has impressed everyone by hitting the ground running and getting on with the job. He gets on well with Danielle and Spencer's been very open with us from day one so that helped him to slip in easily. He's well liked, particularly by the men despite being the youngest, and his quiet hard working nature is respected by all."

Katie sipped her coffee while she thought about the rest of her unit.

"We had a difficult case at the end of last week where a baby was raped. It quite upset Chris but he kept his professionalism in place on the job. When he got back he had to go to the men's room. Spencer went and spoke with him before he returned to his desk and finished his paper work. I think he's all right but you could check his reaction. Tony and Carl both think he's been OK since and Spencer agreed with them. It was all done so quietly, I'm not sure that the rest of the unit even noticed how smoothly Spencer dealt with it."

"Spencer Reid's a very good psychologist," Arthur replied, "He observes a great deal and only acts when he thinks its necessary…He's probably had this unit profiled from the first few days he was here." Arthur noted how tired the woman looked before him and his observations further confirmed all that Reid had told him about his new boss.

"How about Danielle? Is she coping with her early stages of pregnancy?" Arthur asked, "I read over her notes yesterday and she seems to have had a hell of a first pregnancy."

"Yes, poor Danielle, she had dreadful morning sickness. Then she developed the complications with Diabetes. But this time it's so different. Well so far it is but perhaps talking like this is tempting fate!" Katie tried to sound more light hearted about her deputy but she knew that the unit had not been prepared for the problems that did arise with her first pregnancy.

"I remember my Susan…with every pregnancy she was dreadfully sick for the first four months then she blossomed. But those first few months…I swear she had only to smell food and she'd be dashing to the bathroom to throw up. I really don't envy you women."

"Well, it's never been something I've had to think about." Katie firmly replied and seeing Arthur's searching look she smiled.

"I had childhood leukaemia and the treatment left me infertile," she added.

"Oh, I'm sorry…It must be difficult sometimes with a predominantly female unit and the very nature of your work."

"I was told the truth as a 14 year old. I'd survived 'chemo' and having my hair fall out and then being told I wouldn't ever have my own kids seemed a small price to pay to live. I did marry a man who said it didn't matter but, then after 5 years of marriage, he got his secretary pregnant and so ended our relationship. I've always been totally honest in the past with my partners and they have usually accepted the situation and often didn't want children themselves. But I have a brother who has a family and I'm a doting Auntie to my nephews. It has its compensations because I have a lot of fun with them but I can always hand them back at the end of the day! I don't feel I've missed out and trained as a child psychologist and even this position is very 'child orientated' so I get the maternal side satisfied. But I'm not totally convinced that I would have made a good mother anyway because I enjoy the thrill of the chase in my work."

"Yes, you've been very successful with your career which is why I need to know why you're now beginning to need a drink before you even get to work in the morning?" Arthur said with a quiet firmness and Katie felt as if he had just hit her in her solar plexus.

"Really…that's…"

"Please don't insult my intelligence and experience as a Bureau's senior psychologist. I watched you last night. You were not drinking any alcohol but I've seen that controlled tension before. You are a secret drinker at home and last night, once it got past 7:30, all you wanted to do was to leave because you were dying for a drink…Sherry isn't it?"

Katie just stared unable to find the strength to defend herself or perhaps she had really wanted someone to take notice that something was wrong. Now someone had noticed, all her fight to deny such an accusation was dissipated, and there was a nervous relief. But the man had taken her silence as an opportunity to press home his advantage.

"You were subconsciously hiding your growing dependence by obviously not drinking alcohol last night. But it has been noticed. You come to work sucking on mints or cough sweets to take away the smell on your breath. You make strong coffee to try to kick start the brain that is struggling with the hangover from the night before and you stay in your office for the first couple of hours, if you can, so your staff don't see you trying to sober up to cope.

Katie you smell of sweet sherry, the mints and cough sweets aren't working because the lingering sweetness of your favoured drink oozes from your skin…You can't totally disguise it!"

Arthur watched her all the time and he was surprised at how quiet this committed agent was to his firm accusation.

"So I'll ask you again, when did the occasional evening glass become an essential glass with breakfast or has it already slipped into only sherry being your breakfast?"

"No…I do have something to eat at breakfast…Really I do," she suddenly replied finally finding her voice as her brain kicked into gear to analyse the situation she was in.

"I'm glad to hear it because if that is the case then we have caught your slide into alcoholism. As a psychologist, you know it can happen to anyone in a stressful position. You might be surprised just how many senior people in this organisation have been helped before it was too late, and far too apparent on the job, to save their career."

"It was Reid," she suddenly stated unemotionally as her brain worked through those in the unit who would have taken the step to inform the psych services.

Arthur knew he would get no where by lying to this clever woman.

"Spencer Reid was new to this unit so he noticed. But he had previously noticed his mentor unravelling before his eyes when the rest of that unit was in denial and wanted to explain it all away. Here he noticed how your team explained away your snappiness, particularly in the mornings and towards the end of the day. They would say that it was how you are when involved in a case and juggling all the issues. However, Reid saw those tell tale signs and felt it wasn't his place to approach you and wanted a second opinion. Dr. Spencer Reid is a very good psychologist, Dr. Cole, and he is a very caring and diplomatic man who just wants you to get help before things slip any further." Arthur gently stated.

Katie stared at this quiet middle-aged man who as a psychologist she couldn't fault. He was doing all the right things, the very things she would have done if she had found one of her unit slipping into a dependence on alcohol. Katie also knew that the first step to regaining control over her life again was to admit that she had a problem.

"Who knows and what are you going to do about it?" she asked in a dull resigned voice and Arthur saw a mixture of shame and fear in her brown eyes.

"I told you, Reid is very diplomatic. He only told me his suspicions when we first met for lunch and I told him to keep an eye on things to see if there was a consistent pattern. He will not say anything to anyone else in the unit. I informed Max but I've not said anything yet to Andrew Simpson or Adam. I spoke to Max last night, after the get together, and we worked out a discreet plan as we have always found that to work best."

Katie felt as if her carefully constructed façade was crumbling in this room and wondered how she was going to get through the rest of the day.

End of Chapter 8.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Interregnum: Chapter 9**

by Helena Fallon

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1, but essentially I gain no monies from this but I enjoy sharing my imagination with other fans. Please note that I do claim the copyright for the characters I have invented.

Spencer turned the silver Lexus into the ample drive but there were already several cars parked in the sweeping driveway. He stopped the engine and smiled at Jo as she peered at the substantial house before her and knew that this couple had money and at least two of the guests could afford luxury cars.

"Max is interesting but I've never met Anna," Spencer said as he reached to open the door, "As you know, I owe my sanity and the saving of my career to Max and his team and feel very honoured to be invited here. Although originally it had been a challenge to find a partner to bring to one of his evenings!"

Jo laughed, "He does know about me?"

"Of course, I told him ages ago…Soon after we'd met…"

Jo got out and waited while Spencer retrieved his lute from the back seat. Max had asked if he'd bring it because several of his guests were musical. Max had also told Anna about how Spencer's playing at the Clinic had affected all of those who had heard his music making. Max's wife was eager hear to him play Dowland because she was a fan of early music and played the spinet herself.

The solid and wide front door swung open sending an inviting light out to greet the new arrivals. Jo could see a man standing in the doorway, this had to be Max and she knew about the position he held and respected the important part he had played in Spencer's recovery and return to Quantico. He didn't look very special in his black chinos and pale blue dress shirt with a fancy silk tie that was a vivid modern art design in a mixture of blues, reds and yellows of tiny abstract shapes. The host smiled a warm greeting and took her hand firmly as he looked her in the eye but Jo felt comfortable as if she was being gathered into a warm home that was full of good humour and companionship.

"I see you have kept to the challenge I set, Spencer!" Max said softly with a teasing tone but there was nothing threatening rather it was as if said between old friends. He took Spencer's brown wool jacket and Jo's gentian blue cashmere wrap as neither was needed in the warm house. Max had never told Reid that he had met the Judge and Mrs. Petersen in the past but this was the first time that he had met their daughter and he was reminded of both her parents. He was delighted that she was not showing any signs of nervousness at his reputation and, as she made no reference to her parents, he assumed that the Petersens had not mentioned their social connection or perhaps they didn't know about the invite tonight.

It was the first time that Max had seen Reid since his departure from Quantico and he was satisfied with the mature image he was now projecting, just like Arthur had reported, the genius had stepped into his new role and looked every inch the assured deputy of a unit. Reid seemed very relaxed with his partner in this new social setting but no doubt they had recently had a lot of practice socialising that week with the seasonal gatherings the field offices held.

After the initial introductions to Anna, the couple found themselves being taken to a large reception room that contained a baby grand piano, a spinet and an assortment of chairs and it was here that they caught sight of the other guests. There were eight others beside themselves. In this room there was an elderly man and a younger woman, who must have been in her 60's, talking avidly with a small rounded Black American as they sat together eating from large plates perched on their knees. Anna was taking them towards the double glass doors that lead to a dining room where another group was in the process of filling their plates with food. Anna took charge of introducing them as they made their way with plates in hand to find something to eat before music took over the evening.

"This is Spencer and his partner, Jo. Max asked Spencer to bring his lute for this evening." Anna breezily announced to a passing couple, easily in their early 40's and just about to find comfortable seats in the reception room. They were Janice and Robert Tyler, both academics at the University of Virginia.

"I wish we had managed to get you for a proper dinner but with all the cuts even Max has been working more than his usual hours. So my apologies for the less formal arrangement but it's a help your self buffet and then get to know our other friends for the evening. We usually don't start the music until around 8:30 so it will give you a good hour to get chatting!" Anna chatted away as they filled their plates with salad and portions of feta cheese and red pepper quiche. Both of them chose a glass of cranberry juice over any of the assembled wines.

Emerging back into the reception room, Spencer and Jo found themselves being initially drawn into a conversation with Professor Tyler, who was an expert in climate change. Then Spencer found himself talking about early Italian poetry with Stuart Fermoy, a professional viola player, and his partner Jim Latymer, an academic librarian, both of whom taught at the University of Maryland. Conversations flowed easily and Jo was good at putting people at ease, especially if Spencer suddenly went into 'ultra factual' mode and spewed forth a mind-boggling display of his memory.

"Don't worry, I love him but I don't understand half of what he says when you get Spencer into genius mode. Sometimes I tell him, 'Spencer, I think that's a bit too deep for me'…" Jo happily re-assured Anna after she looked totally lost after a few minutes as Henry Glissen, the small Black American, and Spencer had lost the rest of the room while they explored theoretical physics.

"Sometimes, with two deep minds, its just best to leave them in a corner and the pair will re-surface in their own good time. But then that leaves the rest of us space to explore other things…So Eva," Jo turned to the sixty five year old widow, "You've been cataloguing a new acquisition of diaries by a 1920's secretary…So who was her boss?" Jo asked her black eyes sparkled with mischief and it was not lost on the others left out of the physics conversation.

Max chuckled and caught Anna's eye. Jo was a gem and balanced Spencer Reid well because she didn't try to compete but accepted her own worth along side his and used her social abilities to make everyone feel special. Max had listened to Arthur enthuse about meeting her late on Tuesday before they had got down to the more serious business of making arrangements to confront Katie, and support for her, before things became too obvious and caused unnecessary gossip.

Max glanced across to the oblivious Henry and Spencer deep into their own intense exchanges. It was good for Henry to have someone who actually understood what he was talking about outside his work place. Henry's wife, Cara, was listening intently to Eva who was glowing in the limelight and entertaining the rest of the guests with her discoveries so far. The indiscretions of government officials were nothing new to historians and these diaries were scandalous. Max wandered how the secretary had managed to keep them secret but then Eva said that her niece had discovered them when she was eventually clearing out the attic of the house she had inherited from her aunt.

In a lull when the conversations seemed to have naturally momentarily died, old Jeremy Nicholls suddenly turned to Jo and said, "I'm going to be very bold and ask you a very impertinent question."

Jo smiled her encouragement at the old man who she thought had to be well into his 90's but his mind was sharp!

The charming old gentleman continued, "It's a most beautiful locket. I was a jeweller in San Francisco for 50 years and I can still appreciate a beautiful piece of gold work. Is it a family heirloom?" the pale lean and much lined face stared intently into her own and Jo felt flattered that a jeweller had noticed.

"Actually, it was given to me a week ago," and her eyes strayed to the corner where Spencer and Henry were still expounding their ideas. "Spencer saw it in a jewellers in Alexandria, I think it's a copy of a nineteenth century design."

"It's very unusual," Eva joined in and Cara agreed with her.

"People don't wear lockets these days, so it was an unusual choice," Jeremy said and Jo's smile broadened.

"Now my Spencer has hidden depths…one being an unexpected romantic streak that is hidden beneath all those facts and figures and all manner of other things that I will never understand," she answered with a hint of mischief in her voice.

"Oh, you mustn't worry yourself there, Jo," Jeremy replied and his watery grey eyes softened, "I think that locket was bought as a token of your love and you will hand it down to your daughter…and it will become your family heirloom."

Jo beamed, "Oh what a lovely idea, I hope that it does become so because it is my most treasured possession!"

Anna looked up to find Max surveying the scene and looking very thoughtful. He mused quietly to himself that perhaps he would win the bet with Arthur and Don after all, no matter how confident Arthur had seemed all those months ago.

It was just after 9 o'clock when Max suggested that perhaps Spencer would like to play his lute as the night was disappearing and they knew that he and Jo would be leaving first because of other commitments the next day.

Spencer Reid dutifully went and retrieved his lute from the hall and the reception room was suddenly re-arranged so the seating seemed to be in a semi-circle and he felt an anticipation descend upon the small audience. Spencer was happy to play and the room was perfect for the instrument that was sensitive and needed to be often re-tuned. This was the reason why the lute eventually went out of fashion as other instruments were developed for longer chamber music pieces.

He sat down on the easy chair that had no sides to restrict his movement and, as he began to tune the instrument, Max was reminded of the first time that he had seen Spencer with a lute. It had not been this particular lute but the musician seemed to enter another world once he had positioned the instrument and his long slender fingers began to pluck the strings. Then suddenly Spencer looked up and smiled at his audience and Anna witnessed the youthful grin that lit up the room and she sensed that this evening was going to be very special.

"I'm going to play the music of the master, John Dowland. I could talk a lot about him but that's not what you want to hear and his music speaks more eloquently for itself than I could ever do…"

Spencer then paused to positioned his hands and suddenly the room was taken back in time as the music took over and bathed the listeners in the joys and sorrows of the time of Elizabeth the first, William Shakespeare and the reign of James the first of England. Some of these pieces only lasted a minute or two and the longer ones, rarely beyond five. These tunes were each fully formed gems and it was their haunting quality that Max remembered and reminded him of how ill the young musician had been at the time when Max had first heard them. He glanced at Anna who was totally engrossed in the beauty of the flowing music. The fingers danced across the strings bewitching the listeners who sat enchanted asking for more and the musical magician did not fail them.

Two hours passed effortlessly and then the couple were gone and the remaining guests all said to their hosts, "You'll invite them again won't you…"

"They are a rare couple," said the elderly Jeremy.

"Do they play bridge? I'm sure they must be a matched pair," asked Eva.

"He's wasted as a criminal profiler!" pronounced Henry.

But Max said nothing specific and only smiled and assured the assembled friends that they would be invited again but Spencer's work was a problem when it came to pinning him down to dates.

It was nearly 2 o'clock, in the early hours of Christmas Eve, before the Pentall's got to their bed.

As Max snuggled close to his Anna, he whispered, "Well, what did you think of the young genius?"

"He's a very gentle person and very much in love with Jo," she replied, "So very gifted and such a charmer…He reminds me of the old Jimmy Stewart act…All old school and big eyed innocence but behind all of that innocent persona is a very old soul. I think he is one who has seen too many things in his short life and you cross him at your peril. Mmm… I think that very deep down there is a quiet temper to the 'gentle genius' and he's as stubborn as his partner if he wants something or knows it to be right."

Max smiled to himself; his Anna was an intuitively wise woman. He wondered if Jo had discovered Spencer's temper yet!"

Spencer lay awake in the early morning winter sunlight, it was Christmas Day and they were expected for a family lunch. He didn't feel any different than he had the previous morning but now he wore a plain gold wedding ring on his left hand. It had been such a painless and simple wedding and he was pleased that they had kept it to just the small gathering they had. Jo lay still fast asleep beside him, her arm draped across his thin body, her own matching gold band on her deformed hand and her treasured locket askew around her neck. Spencer thought about how so much had changed this year. Back in January he would never have thought that by the end of the year he would be married and working away from the BAU. But his life had changed in February when he went to the home of Tobias Henkel with J.J. He had re-lived the horror of those days many times, but he had survived and come through the darkest time of his life, and found that he had a different attitude to living now. The weeks spent at the Clinic had been a time of facing the truths that he had been pushing away every time they had tried to surface. However, by facing the darkest corners of his life he had come to a clearer understanding of himself and just where he felt comfortable in the world.

Reid didn't recommend facing your own death as the best way to confront your personal demons but it had certainly acted as the turning point for him. Spencer had been on a journey with his three psychs who had each given him insight and emotional support to accept the love he had for his father. Alongside this acceptance he came to realise that despite the guilt he felt for putting his mother in a place of safety it was the most caring, loving and humane act he could have made for his sick mother even if she hated him for it. Spencer had done the very thing that his father had not been able to do. He remembered how Diana had taunted William for his weakness, knowing that she held the upper hand in that relationship. Spencer Reid was not weak but a very strong individual who had fought against the addictive drug he had been given and the physical discomfort of the beatings from Henkel to reveal all he could work out from his conversations with the madman. The team had found them but Spencer had to shoot his tormentor and his aim had been accurate despite the mental and physical torture he'd been through. Despite the events of those days, part of Spencer still regretted having to fire the gun; Tobias had experienced a very troubled childhood but even if he'd lived the poor man would never have been allowed his freedom.

The time in the Clinic had broken the routine he had of writing his 'guilt letters' to his mother. He still wrote her letters but usually this was now a weekly, and sometimes fortnightly, event and they contained mostly details about the books he had read. After the Randall Garner case, he wrote nothing about his colleagues and now even less about his own personal life because her doctors advised that his mother would probably not like to hear about his marriage. Jo had met her, but Diana Reid had not been introduced to the girl friend but to a fellow music maker who accompanied her son's lute playing.

Spencer breathed deeply, there was a satisfaction about his present situation and he felt contented in a way that he could not remember before. The BAU had been a learning experience but he had hidden himself too much and Gideon had let him. Perhaps Gideon really thought that the stresses of the job for such a young person were more than enough and that Spencer would let his real self re-surface when he felt more comfortable in the work and with his colleagues. But it had not worked like that at all and Spencer came to wonder if Gideon had merely been satisfying a deeper need within himself to have a substitute son to tutor as a successor. Spencer had accepted the role and it conveniently meant that he had slipped lazily into being the 'young geek'. Then there was Boston and he had lost colleagues who had accepted him as a younger man to be nurtured into the difficult role of profiler. Gideon had survived but his conscience was such that he blamed himself for the loss of his team and had never really recovered from the incident.

Spencer, who had not been there because of sick leave, now felt a wave of disgust rise within him at the memory. Spencer didn't like how Morgan always told people that he should have been with the team at Boston. The reality was that he wasn't even in the team then, he had been interviewed but the formal decisions had not been made and then Boston changed everything…the team was decimated. But Morgan loved to make out that he was the action man, the agent who would have counselled Gideon differently if he had been with them in Boston. But who knows the truth of that premise because the reality was that Morgan was back at Quantico lecturing on different types of letter bombs when the Boston bomb killed the old team…

Spencer shrugged, he really must let go of the memory, it was all past now and he knew Morgan better although he still didn't forgive some of Morgan's behaviour. He understood the psychological reasons behind the man's actions and the need in him to be seen as friends but deep down Spencer still had not forgiven Morgan for his bullying or invading his privacy by going through his belongings in New Orleans. It was all compounded by the fact that when he did find the small bottle of coloured water he still didn't take it to Hotch. If Morgan had followed procedure then Spencer might have forgiven him but deep down Spencer would always hold back from Morgan because he had almost got Garcia thrown out and Emily had been before the disciplinary board as well. Spencer ran his left hand through his hair annoyed with himself that the memory of those days still surfaced when he thought of Derek Morgan.

Morgan had sent him an e-mail at the beginning of the week to say that he and Angela were engaged and were hoping to marry around Easter time. "I'll let you know the date because we'd be delighted if you and your Jo could attend."

Spencer had sent his congratulations but didn't mention the plans for his own quiet marriage. He and Jo had decided to send out e-mails to their friends on Christmas Day before leaving for the Petersen home and the family lunch. He and Morgan were so different; colleagues but not close friends no matter how much the other man might want to be seen as such. Spencer didn't wish Morgan ill and he sincerely hoped that his marriage to Angela would bring him the happiness and steadiness that he needed, but Spencer had friends who were much closer to him than Morgan. Craig Petersen was naturally close and then he thought of Peter Bishop, who was like a brother. Ethan Hyde suddenly sprang to mind because he had seen so much during their conversations in New Orleans. There were people who he instantly thought of as friends and he would send them a photo with the wedding message but he wasn't sure about the other recipients, perhaps they would reply and ask for one. Spencer Reid suddenly thought how being now in a legal partnership meant that people had other expectations of them and smiled at the thought, perhaps he'd better send Garcia a photo or she'd track him down demanding one! Mmm, Garcia, Emily and J.J... he considered closer friends than Morgan, perhaps because they had not bullied him or that he recognised their sensitive qualities.

Morgan liked to be the macho man everything that Spencer was not and that didn't bode well for closeness when Reid thought how much he disliked the way Morgan used women. He really hoped that Angela was going to calm that side of his character but Morgan had been spoilt by both of his parents as a child, and his sisters and mother continued to make excuses for him as a grown man. Spencer knew that there was a softer side to Morgan but he seemed afraid to show it and he always needed to be in control of any situation or relationship. The psychologist inside him knew why the older agent had these character flaws but he hoped that Morgan trusted Angela and allowed her to grow within their relationship rather than maintaining the controlling hand. Spencer was a psychologist and knew that for Morgan to really change then that change had to come from the man himself. No matter how much a psych could help a patient to see their flaws and explain their behavioural problems, ultimately the patient has to want to change and embrace the steps for those changes to occur and continue upon the new path. It is not easy to change but a good psych would offer support for those who genuinely tried.

But then Spencer acknowledged to himself that he was far from perfect and began to think about his previous behaviour at the BAU. He must have annoyed people with his ability to be a walking computer that could bring forth an enormous amount of useful and useless information. It was these displays of geekiness that he had curbed after his time at the Clinic; it was as if that playful side had been killed alongside the death of Henkel. Spencer could still summon things up…and sometimes he did so to break the tension of an situation, or to help people wind down after a case, but he knew that he had been much more sober since being at the CACU. It was probably because he perceived his present role to be so different. Spencer was still the youngest agent there but he was acting as a deputy and that meant showing the gravitas of such a position.

"Spencer," Jo sleepily said his name and he turned to face her with a smile, "You seemed miles away…"

"I was just thinking about all the things that have happened this year and how much I've changed," he replied honestly.

"Well just stop analysing too much and just enjoy the good bits while we can," Jo said wondering what had brought on the serious mood and then decided to divert him with more physical pleasures.

"Daddy! Daddy!" the squeals of delight filled the bedroom as Hotch opened his eyes to see his pyjama clad son trailing Christmas wrapping and a colourful engine and trucks….

"Train, Daddy…Jack needs help…."

Wow that's some engine, Jack, Santa really has been very busy making you a train…."

"And lots of tack…." added Jack clambering onto his parent's bed with enthusiasm.

Aaron had crept into Jack's room at midnight to place a sack of carefully wrapped presents. The train set had been the number one 'must have' on his list to Santa and Hayley had ordered the extra track and engines so that Jack would be happily occupied if the weather was bad over the holiday.

The engine was thrust before Aaron's sleepy eyes but he smiled and tried to treasure these moments of excitement with his three year old.

Hayley manoeuvred herself out of the bed, grabbed her dressing gown and padded off to the en suite. Hotch stretched and reached for his plum coloured dressing gown.

"Well lets go and see what else you have …" and the excited Jack lead the way to his bedroom. Aaron momentarily viewed the bedroom floor with dismay. There was Christmas wrapping torn from boxes everywhere. Fortunately, the people who had sent Jack gifts had also told them before hand what was in them so sending a 'thank you photo', with Jack playing with their present, wouldn't be too problematical.

"Now we had better be careful where we step and lets collect some of these things so we don't break them. Shall we put those bits of track on the bed and find the rest of the pieces to go with them…."

Jack obediently began gathering his train set parts together and placed them on his bed.

Hayley suddenly appeared at the door, "I've found a bright red box to keep your train set in and Daddy will carry it down stairs for you. If you're good, I'm sure Daddy will help you put it together while Mommy makes breakfast," Hayley said and smiled indulgently at the scene. The task would keep these two males out of her way for the next few minutes and probably all the time she was preparing Christmas dinner aswell!

A corner of the den was having a train track laid with intense seriousness and there were also little features like the station and bridges to fit into the grand scheme of things. At the opposite end of this large family room was a Christmas tree which still had a few other gifts hidden beneath it that had been ignored by Jack for the time being.

Some thirty minutes later Hayley announced that breakfast pancakes were ready to be eaten…

Two happy faces turned her way and she wished she'd grabbed the video camera to record the scene now. The track was complete and two engines were set upon their journey as well as some Lego people and a bus together with a variety of other vehicles that had crept into the scene from Jack's toy box in the room. Jack grinned but then resumed chattering away about the track scene to his Dad.

"Hey Jack, Mommy might eat all the pancakes!" Aaron said grinning.

Jack looked up from pushing his bright red and yellow engine along the black track towards the tunnel.

"Pancakes now? Mommy can't eat them all …she'll be sick!"

Aaron rose from the floor and gave his wife a lop-sided grin of mischief.

"Jack's coming…I want pancakes…" said the boy picking up the blue engine to take with him to the kitchen table.

Marilyn and Jeff entered the house with their arms full of large 'food storage' boxes and carrier bags swinging from their already full hands.

"Oh let me help with those!" Alan said as he began to relieve his sister of the plastic food containers.

"What's in these?"

"Oh some little 'Madeleines' for the children just to balance the rich fruit cake. I'm sure that Ben will prefer them to the Christmas cake and Lydia will no doubt insist on one or two. If there are any left over then they can be used over the next few days and even for dessert with a jam or custard sauce."

"She's ever the optimist even after all these years!" Jeff remarked to his brother-in-law's look of doubt, "We have Spencer with us at the table this year and you know just how much that skeleton can devour!"

Alan chuckled and thought about the mountain of food that seemed to have been consumed yesterday by the family along with Harold and Mary. Still it had been all good home cooking and nothing too fancy, just what Jo had requested, and no special cake either nor alcohol. It was just like their usual family meals when the little ones were present. Most of the adults needed to be sober to drive like the agent, the doctor, and not forgetting the judge, so there had been no interest in wine, beer or spirits. At least no one had been called away to their work so the morning and brief ceremony in the study had passed quickly and without incident. It was as Spencer and Jo had wanted, everyone had been relaxed and the children had behaved themselves.

Today it would be the traditional turkey dinner with assorted vegetables and Christmas plum pudding but the family had requested various flavours of ice cream rather than rum butter as a topping. The turkey was already cooking, the vegetables had all been prepared ready for cooking and frozen the previous week, the plum pudding likewise so very little actually needed to be prepared on the day. Marilyn would help as usual to set the table and the two women were already deep into conversation about the wonderful wedding that they had all experienced yesterday.

The men retreated to Alan's study where Alan had been editing the photographs that had been taken and then there was the film of the actual ceremony. It had only taken a brief few minutes but he had filmed it for prosperity.

Jeff already had a mug of coffee, "You know this room is never going to be the same after yesterday!" he suddenly pronounced coming over to the computer screen where Alan was editing his photographs.

"No…it was great wasn't it. To think they had originally thought of using Harold's Chambers but he'd suggested this and it was Spencer who raised it …He's very fond of Margaret and I think seeing that Margaret was a little put out that Jo had things tightly in her reins…"

"Oh all too well. Once Jo has an idea in her head it takes some to change it but Spencer seems to have tempered some of that where the family is concerned!" agreed Jeff and he peered at the image on the screen.

"Lydia looked lovely in that pretty sky blue dress, and that little basket of red, white and pink rose buds …She loved the attention didn't she. It was good of Spencer to let her walk between him and Jo and the way he insisted that he'd carry little Ben so he was part of coming into the room too! You know it was the children who gave the couple away!"

"Yeah, it was just wonderful, it was just a lovely memory for this room and I hope it remains with me 'til I die," Alan agreed staring towards the spot in the centre of the room where the couple had stood for Harold's brief legal words.

"Can I have a copy of that one with Lydia and …Oh that's a good one of the two together. I like how Ben has pulled himself up by your chair there. Where did Melinda find that little stripy waistcoat…Harold was very impressed and said he'd like one in those colours!"

The smiling cherubic features of the blond curly haired but dark eyed Ben smiled triumphantly back at the viewer. He was looking very smart in black velour pants and soft matching shoes. He wore a white shirt with a crimson velour bow tie that complimented the satin material of his striped waistcoat. The centimetre thick stripes were in crimson and plum and separated by a stripe of gold and fastened by black velvet covered buttons.

The screen changed and there were several smaller images of the couple. Jo had worn a long sleeved crimson silk dress with an embroidered collar of a golden Celtic swirling design. The dress was fitted at the waist and then became a full skirt made up of six panels of silk that was a mid calf length. The golden swirls of the embroidery were then repeated around the hem for a good two inches in depth. But the eye of the beholder was immediately drawn to the round gold locket on a long gold chain that fell at her breast level. The plainness of the identical gold bands the couple wore as their symbol of marriage was completely overshadowed by the unusual locket.

Spencer had worn a charcoal suit; an 'obviously bespoke' suit Jeff had heard Craig remark. It fitted him beautifully, the tailored coat sweeping across the broad shoulders and shaping down to the slender waist and then gracing the man's hips. The family had not expected him to wear his only suit. There was a crimson silk tie to match Jo's dress and the white dress shirt with the beautifully fitted suit really served to show how tall and handsome the slender man was. It was only after the ceremony that the family realised that he was wearing round gold cufflinks with an emerald stone in the centre. Spencer's eyes had shone with delight when he revealed to Margaret that Jo had given him the cufflinks as an engagement gift because she felt he ought to have something special aswell.

"I like them all," Jeff remarked, "Can I have copies of all of these?"

Alan laughed, "To think that in your business you're very decisive but socially…"

"I know, but she's the only niece I've got and well…you're the only family we have." Alan felt a pang of sorrow and couldn't stop his eyes travelling to the photo on the desk of Daniel with his cousin, Lawrence. Similar in age, they had been like brothers through school, then university and they had even taken jobs with the same law firm. The family liked to think that they had died together on 911 too. They had never found any DNA evidence but they had been in offices near the impact of the first plane. Alan shook himself out of his morbid thoughts, it had been far worse for the Bevans…Lawrence had been their only child.

"I like Spencer, always thought him a good man from the first time I met him…" Jeff was saying and Alan latched onto his voice to bring him back to the present. "You'd never think he's FBI though would you. I didn't even know he had a suit!"

Alan laughed, "He rarely wears it but he thought it would be on the record that he did once wear a suit. Although, did you notice how quickly afterwards he took the jacket off so he could feel more relaxed? Those cufflinks were very fine that Jo got for him…they make a handsome couple. Look here, Harold and Mary beaming, you'd think that she was their daughter!"

"It was just perfect wasn't it…I mean Craig had the big wedding because Melinda's Mom was dying and she wanted her to have that special memory. But Jo…she's always been one to do things differently. It summed them up though…It was just the essence of their feelings that was important…."

"Yeah," Alan agreed, " They didn't need any fancy show because it was about the commitment to spend their lives together. It was only because our society needs that bit of paper to show it's all acknowledged as legal. Margaret and I are just pleased that we were actually allowed to witness it all…I have to admit I thought Jo might just sneak off and marry and just turn up one day with a ring on her finger!"

"Mmm…I know what you mean. She's very creative but she doesn't like false situations does she. Jo has a sharp ability for sussing out the real likes of clients as opposed to what 'the fashion of the day' dictates. It's her ability to marry the two that has made our business so successful over the past few years," Jeff remarked thinking about how relieved he was that she had recovered from the New York attack and gradually gained the confidence to meet with the clients again.

The study door burst open.

"Hello!" called Lydia from the threshold, "Daddy's working but Mommy and Ben and me have come!"

"Well now, let's hope Daddy is able to join us later. What have you had from Santa?" Alan asked his happy granddaughter and knew that she would be full of her news.

An hour later, Lydia said that Auntie Jo's car had come and Margaret went to open the door with the children at her heels.

"Oh, is Spencer working?" Margaret voiced her disappointment.

"No, he's on his way," Jo replied stepping out of the drizzle that had begun on the drive over from Alexandria. It had been nice to stay at the apartment again for a few days and Jo thought how much she still loved the area. She had made some pleasant new friends but her heart was really in Alexandria and she missed the 'Farmer's Market," the Torpedo Factory and just the old houses in the conservation area. Jo loved the old row houses but she also knew that they were expensive and really not practical for all her possessions and need for a studio space.

"What…quarrelled already!" quipped her father as he came to greet her.

"Right…I've buried him beneath the patio for the insurance."

"Jo!" Margaret censored because she wasn't quite sure how much Lydia would understand of the exchange.

There was then the unmistakable rumble of the engine of the old Volvo and Alan's face light up with the sound.

"Oh pure music…I wish he'd let me restore it for him, there's nothing quite like those old models…" Alan whispered to his wife.

Margaret opened the door for Spencer and he ran across from the car and scooped up Ben who was sitting on the threshold.

"You're going to get wet Ben…the rain's coming down harder."

Ben giggled with delight at being swung up towards the ceiling and Margaret closed the door behind him.

"Craig's working…and for a moment we thought you might be," Alan said but Spencer smiled and reached into his pocket and stood before Alan as he held Ben in the crook of his left arm.

"Put out your hand," he commanded the bemused Alan and the rest of the family, who had come to the hall to greet Jo and her husband, stopped to watch the exchange.

Alan did as he was told and Spencer dropped the keys of the Volvo into the open palm, "Merry Christmas…I'm sure it will take you a few years to restore…"

Alan was quite overcome and just stared at the two keys resting in his palm for a few moments…

"I … I …I'll make a good job of it, that Volvo will be returned to you just like new…just like I said I would last Summer…" he fumbled uncharacteristically but the excitement of the challenge shone in his face.

Spencer and Jo grinned at him, "I trust you with my precious vehicle, just take your time and enjoy it!" Spencer said and the assembled adults all laughed knowing that Alan's favourite past time was tinkering with old Volvo engines. He'd restored his old 1970's model and it was now proudly placed in the old barn that had been converted into a work shop come garage for Alan's interests.

"Bless you," whispered Margaret to Spencer as they made their way into the living room, "That will keep Alan happy for years and he'll forget about the pressures of work."

Spencer doubted the bit about forgetting the pressures of work. Spencer suspected that Alan liked to think about cases as he tinkered with the innards of cars and by being away from the law books of his study it all helped him to keep things in perspective.

Three hours later, more presents were produced from the Petersen Christmas tree. The children had little gifts to keep them occupied while the grownups opened their own family surprises. Lydia had a little bright pink and red attaché case that opened up to reveal a wad of paper together with many coloured wax crayons, felt tipped pens and stencils. She was quickly engrossed in producing masterpieces for her Granny's kitchen walls. Ben, who was getting a little sleepy, was helped by his Mom to unwrap the gift of a two-foot high soft clown who had a big smiley face and bright soft clothing in primary colours and of different textures. The clown was quickly cuddled close and Ben began to fall asleep clutching his new friend.

Melinda found that her gift was a giant 'golfing umbrella' that was multi coloured with stripes from the spectrum of the rainbow. There was also a joint present for Craig and Melinda of an antique glass decanter made around 1890 which the family knew the couple would like. It matched one the couple had bought soon after they had married and was a treasured possession for it's fine workmanship.

"Wow! It's great and very appropriate for today!" she beamed at the umbrella and was speechless with surprise over the decanter. Melinda finally whispered that she had better leave that for Alan and Margaret to bring over because she had her hands full today being on her own with the children.

Marilyn had a large and very heavy decorative planter made from brass. "It will look lovely in the dining room by the French doors with that flowering cactus!" she happily pronounced.

Margaret found that the family had brought her a new leather attaché case to carry all her papers for meetings. The handle on her old one had recently broken and so she was pleased that Alan had said 'don't bother' when she was going to get a replacement.

Jeff was given a weatherproofed hunting jacket. He liked to wear these when it was cold and they were clay pigeon shooting. Marilyn had been threatening to throw away his old one because in her eyes it was in a disgusting state with its odd buttons and torn pockets!

Alan had his special 'family present' already although as far as the whole family was concerned the wedding the previous day had been the early Christmas present no one had expected.

Finally the family turned to Jo and Spencer,

"Well I know we had your wedding as our very special Christmas present and you didn't want any presents and things but we all put out heads together and came up with this," Alan said proudly producing an envelope.

Jo took it and stood beside Spencer as she opened it, inside was a 'confirmation' e-mail for two return tickets to London for the coming April.

"We thought two weeks would allow you two to do some travelling around Britain seeing Jo's friends and you might even manage a quick trip to mainland Europe aswell. If you book now, Spencer, you actually might get the time off…a sort of belated honeymoon," Jeff beamed.

"This is wonderful! We had been thinking of going to England next year as our holiday and now we have definite flights we can start contacting people. I'll have to see if there are any special concerts and exhibitions at that time," Jo gushed with excitement, while the overwhelmed Spencer just shyly smiled at the generosity of the gift and felt that Jo was doing far better over voicing their thanks.

Across a vast ocean, Dr. Jason Gideon, finally took some time to look at his e-mails. He noted and replied to the one from Stephen and Alex. Gideon felt happier about his relationship with his son these days and thought his trip to Michigan had been the best thing he'd done in years and had repaired a fraying bond of paternal love.

Gideon saw a message from Hotch and read the neutral wishes of goodwill that also said that he was now working with the Directors Special Task team to gather evidence concerning the detriment of the cuts for the FBI. Gideon wished the man well; he was a good leader and talented agent. He further thought that Senior Management had obviously decided to back Hotch and remove him from Strauss's firing line while they let her dangle in the storm. Gideon was surprised to learn from Hotch's message that Spencer Reid had been moved to cover a maternity leave but he'd cope especially as it was under Katie Cole, who Gideon thought was an excellent agent and psychologist.

His eyes scanned down the list of messages and suddenly noted one from Spencer. He had received an e-mail from Spencer after he had found his letter of explanation for his sudden departure. Reid had been generous in that previous message and had wished his old mentor well and hoped that Gideon would find a level of peace in his life once more. However, Gideon had not replied to any messages he had received from the team or past FBI colleagues. He had later read them when he had arrived in Britain but he didn't really want to discuss his feelings or destination with any of them. He felt that they all belonged to another existence and Gideon had now turned the page and had begun a new chapter of his life in England.

However, curiosity got the better of the older man and he clicked on the Reid message with its title of 'Jo and Spencer's Christmas news.'

"Hello Gideon, We hope that this message finds you well and rested and more at peace with yourself and that you have found some new pleasurable challenges to explore. Jo and I have some news, which probably will not be a great surprise to you. We got married yesterday at the Petersen family home, with just her immediate family and Harold, the Judge, and his wife, Mary. We did it as quietly as possible because you know how we both hate the fuss of formal occasions and I'm not going to forget that Christmas Eve is my wedding anniversary!

We are now living in Berwyn Heights, not far from Josh Kramer, because I'm working with the CACU to cover for the deputy's maternity leave. I've no idea how long this placement is going to last but its very different being a predominantly female unit. We few males cling to our Men's Room as the place of ultimate retreat! I'm glad that I'm out of the Quantico base as the BAU has returned to the old method of working …out on your own. Hotch has also been moved to Washington, while Barry is still running the office side of things, but Strauss has maintained a firm hold and not appointed a new unit chief because of the cuts. The jet has gone too so agents now have to use public transport or cars. I'm sure that the law enforcement departments will start to complain when they realise how the cuts have affected the service. The CACU was fortunate and didn't face any cuts and we are as busy as ever…Lets just say that I was soon into the swing of things but it is a friendly place and full of memorable characters. Adam Priest, the Agent in Charge of the Field Office, is approachable and I see Arthur because he is based here two days a week to help out with the cuts in psych personnel.

I enclose a wedding picture…Yes, I really do own a suit …a one and only suit!

Jo and I send you our very best wishes and we hope that the New Year brings good times."

Gideon smiled at the attachment and then printed off the picture and placed it on the mantle piece. They looked happy and Gideon felt his heart swell with a warmth for the young couple who smiled into the camera looking totally relaxed and radiating their happiness. He was delighted that Spencer had plucked up the courage to propose to Jo because he thought they were good together and he decided that he would try and compose a message to them tomorrow.

The doorbell sounded and he moved to open the door.

"Hello, Paul…Come on in, I was just reading my e-mails and heard that one of my former colleagues has got married," he cheerfully told his visitor.

Paul entered and his eyes fell upon the printed picture. Gideon strode over to get it and handed it to him.

"That's Dr. Spencer Reid, a protégé of mine at the BAU, and his new wife Jo," Gideon proudly explained.

"Reid…You mean the author of that new book on serial killers and the conversations he conducted with them?"

"The very man. He initially did them for his doctorate and it was how I got to know about him because he uncovered new evidence and it was passed on to me. I like to think that I persuaded him to join the BAU. I had to convince the FBI to accept someone so young but he's still with them and very good at the work. He says in his e-mail that he's been seconded to the CACU so that will be good for him."

"Gideon you are a dark horse, you know that his book is being handed round because some of the students have copies from the US…You couldn't persuade him to visit Cambridge could you?" Paul asked hopefully, "I mean it's a wonderful coup having you teaching this coming semester but if you could mention Reid as well… you'll have the students drooling…."

Gideon laughed, "Paul…Reid is the most…He's a genius and would feel totally embarrassed by such a drooling reception. The dedication in his book sums the man up…its for the victims and all those who are not yet found but still remembered. He's not an egotist but if he ever comes to England, and his wife was here in the summer visiting friends, then I'm sure I could persuade him to visit and perhaps even give a talk!"

Gideon saw the look of sheer delight at the thought in Paul's round and florid face and also felt the pleasure at being able to talk about the young man. Perhaps there was the chance that he was really healing now that he was totally away from the stresses of the work after all.

"Well, Phil and Theresa sent me to get you. Theresa is going to start putting Christmas dinner on the table… I know you're a liberal Jew but you know we all want you to be there with us. Phil has been very good to me since my Jill died and this Christmas dinner was a lifeline to me last year. It made me realise just how much I miss my daughter and her family but they have their own lives in Hong Kong. I hope to go out there next Christmas," Paul explained and Gideon smiled in sympathy knowing that Paul had watched his wife of 30 years die slowly of motor neurone disease. Jill had finally died 10 days before last Christmas and two days after their daughter had returned home to her own family.

Gideon picked up his jacket and keys and they made there way together to the door. Although this suite of rooms were attached to the main house it was really a self contained annex and like having your own apartment with its own door. There was a connecting door into the main house that had been used by Theresa's late mother but this was now locked to give the occupant of the annex complete privacy.

Phil and Theresa had a large circle of friends and Gideon was gradually being introduced to them and he felt that the coming year was one that held hope for the future despite all that had happened in the present one. Paul continued chatting about the coming round of invites that the two men had received as they walked round from Gideon's side entrance to the front door of the main house. Gideon was very conscious that he was most fortunate to have friends in this city and that had he had been welcomed warmly into their homes despite this being a time when families usually came together. He had arrived only a week ago but he felt as if he'd been living in Cambridge for months.

It had been a wonderful day and even Craig had been finally able to join the Petersen family around teatime. Ben and Lydia rushed to greet him and he tried to look alert as Lydia proudly showed him her drawings, a couple of which he solemnly assured were going up in his office at the hospital.

Craig sank into an easy chair in the study and Spencer gave him the cup of tea that Margaret had made for him.

"Were you in the operating theatre all the time?" Spencer asked softly as he sat in an identical chair opposite.

"Five hours and then I had to stay around for the immediate post-operative care because it was the change over of shifts. Two of the nurses were late and I wanted to personally brief them about the patient. I felt all right driving over here but I think its catching up with me now…I think I'll ask Mom if we can stay here tonight because I don't have the energy to drive back home and we're slightly nearer the hospital here if I'm called in again."

"Do you want me to sort that out for you while you put your feet up?"

"Would you mind…I know Melinda is keeping the children out of my hair at the moment,"

Spencer smiled with understanding and left to talk to both Melinda and Margaret. It wouldn't be any problem because the large house had enough rooms to accommodate all of them. However, knowing that they were staying the night meant that the children wouldn't have to be put in the car and the evening could wind down at a gentler pace.

Melinda slipped in a few minutes later to find her husband fast asleep. She picked up his empty cup and switched off the room's central light, leaving only a reading lamp on to cast some light in the room. She then quietly left, closing the study door softly and firmly told Lydia that her Daddy was fast asleep and not to go in the study. But Lydia was unconcerned because Uncle Spencer had begun to entertain her, and anyone else who wished to watch, with his magic tricks.

Jo and Spencer got back to Alexandria soon after midnight but they had only just got their coats off when Spencer's cell bleeped ominously. Jo gave him a look of disbelief.

"Reid," he said officiously as he recognised the displayed CACU number.

"Very sorry to disturb you, Spencer," said Barbara, one of the newer agents to the unit, "Katie's still off sick and you are the next senior in line for contacting," she said apologetically.

"Yeah, its OK, what's happened?" Spencer reassured the apprehensive voice.

"The man, Brian Rankin, he's been rushed to hospital after a stabbing incident at the Baltimore Holding Facility."

Spencer felt suddenly alert, "Do you know how bad it is?"

"All I know is that it was a stomach wound and he's been taken into surgery. The local police are investigating and Rick left to personally find out more leaving me with instructions to contact a senior agent."

"Fine, I'm coming in, get the coffee pot going…" he closed the connection and Jo gave him a questioning look.

"I don't like the feel of this…one of our 'players' awaiting trial has been knifed. It might be to order because we suspected he was a bigger player than he was making out. He's in surgery and Rick has gone off to find out more about the incident. I've got to go into the office," he said slipping his coat back on and reaching for the door. He suddenly stopped and came back to Jo to kiss her cheek,

"Sorry, but this could be serious…"

"It's OK, you know I can cope and I can always go over to see the family again if I find myself at a loose end," Jo assured, "Drive carefully," she said and bolted the door after him, aware that this was the reality of being the wife of an agent.

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

**The Interregnum: Chapter 10**

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**Please note that because the Criminal Minds series has been inconsistent about Penelope Garcia's background I'm going to stick to the original where she has a stepfather and step brothers.**

Spencer drove the short distance to the College Park complex in record time because the streets were deserted. He had expected a few drunken Christmas revellers en route but he didn't see another vehicle or human.

Barbara Phelps looked relieved to see him. It was her first Christmas at the unit and she had drawn this late shift. It didn't worry her too much as she had no boyfriend to miss and her family had seen her Christmas Eve and the early part of Christmas Day. She had attended church with them in Philadelphia before heading back to Maryland and this overnight shift.

"Sorry about disturbing your night," she said as Reid strode through the department doors looking all alert but he smiled at her and Barbara thought that the men generally in this unit were a nice bunch to work with.

"Nature of the job unfortunately but Rick has the worse call," he said and headed for the coffee that he could smell.

He soon returned with his bright red mug brimming with his favourite beverage.

"Now what do you know?" he asked as he sat down on a chair near the main reception desk that Barbara had been manning.

"Had a call at 23:48 from the Baltimore Holding Facility. A Grant Bullimore said that Brian Rankin, one of our suspects, had been injured in a fight but at first the guards had not taken the incident very seriously because he was on the segregation wing and usually the people there don't hurt each other. But when the guards finally entered the area they found two men were hurt but Rankin seemed quiet compared with his assailant who was making a fuss because he was bleeding from a head wound."

"There was a delay in the guards entering the unit?" Spencer picked up on the suspicious details.

"Yeah, it seems a bit fuzzy to say the least! But it seems that only one guard was covering the section when the trouble broke out. The guard called for help, because they are supposed to attend these incidents in twos, but his partner had to make a visit to the men's room so he couldn't get to them until he came back."

"So during this time both men had stopped fighting?" asked Reid incredulously as this didn't sound like a normal prison fight.

"I think so, Bullimore said that they were very undermanned and so the segregated prisoners were getting their Christmas 'association time'. The out of cell time was later than usual with a slight change in routine. It had been decided that all the sections would have a film shown in their wing as a treat."

Spencer raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I know it sounds very civilised doesn't it. But there were only 6 men together on this small wing and none had violence as their crime so the authorities thought, as they were basically all sex offenders of under age victims, they wouldn't be antagonistic to one another. Bullimore kept telling me that none of the prisoners had shown any aggressive tendencies since entering the facility."

"Oh boy, now that was an incredibly stupid decision by the authorities and someone is going to have to face an enquiry."

"Yeah, that was what Rick said before he left," agreed Barbara.

"Do we have any CCTV on the incident?" Spencer asked because he wanted to see for himself what had happened.

"The prison authorities are dragging their heels and it appears that the recording is very grainy because they were using very old tapes. They have not upgraded that part of the Holding Facility so it's not DVD but video and much used tapes to save money. The police are sending it over because I said we had state of the art enhancement programmes and we'd like to see what we could do with it."

"Good thinking," praised Reid and Barbara smiled briefly at the compliment.

"Well you have followed all the procedures so don't worry but it stopped you having a quiet shift," Reid said with some sympathy for the woman.

Barbara shrugged, "I saw my family earlier, I've had some Christmas's when I've been hundreds of miles away and I actually volunteered for this shift so I had something to do."

"Yeah, I've done the same in the past. It seems more important for the agents with young families to have the time with them doesn't it?" Spencer added, "So what are you reading?"

Barbara reached down and brought out her hefty much thumbed paperback tome, "I confess that I tend to read 'Lord of the Rings' over the Christmas period, and its become a sort of ritual now because I've have been doing that since I was 15!"

Reid grinned broadly at her confession, "Be careful, if Robert sees you he'll corner you for some in depth conversation…You know like the real significance of Bilbo Baggins's encounter with Gollum and the power of the 'Hobbit weed'!"

Barbara burst into laughter, it was not the sort of light-hearted conversation she was expecting from the young and talented Dr. Reid from the BAU. But the phone rang and Barbara was suddenly the sober agent.

"Crimes Against Children Unit, Agent Phelps speaking…Yes, Rick, Spencer's here," she said and passed the phone over to the man.

"Hi Rick, what have you found out?"

"A bloody mess. The regime here was very lax as they don't usually have problems over the Christmas period. They seem to think that the 'Goodwill to all men' filters down to the prisoners on remand. Anyway, the men on the segregation unit were brought together for a treat of a Christmas DVD, 'Casino Royale' apparently, after a later than usual Christmas dinner together. The man in charge for today, Bullimore, has been doing this for over five years and says that they have never had the 'special time' abused by the prisoners before. The staff usually put up a couple of picnic tables and the men bring their chairs from their cells so they can sit together in the corridor for the Christmas dinner and later they bring in a television on a trolley and watch a film. They are usually a bit tightly staffed being Christmas and they try to let the guards with small children have the day off. It all means that they were effectively working on a shoe string relying on the goodwill of the prisoners!"

"I've got the idea, so what happened? We are still waiting for the security tape of the incident," explained Spencer.

"Dinner had passed quietly, everyone was behaving in a very civilised fashion so they wheeled in the large staff television and put the film on. They were the last group to have the treat and I guess by this time the staff was very complacent about security. An hour into the film, Austin Shields suddenly lunged at Rankin and there was blood everywhere! He'd plunged a sharp wooden stake into him, they had to remove it at the hospital because they thought it best not to touch it as it had been rammed in deep and with considerable force to break the skin. The hospital said that it looks like a long slender wooden handle that has been sharpened at one end to a spike. The police think it was a paint brush, the sort like you get in an artist's paint box."

"Yeah, I understand, so the fine bristle end could have been removed and then the wood sharpened to become the weapon," Spencer clarified but he could imagine it all too well remembering the assortment of artists' brushes that Jo used. "How did Shields get it?"

"Well now that is interesting," Rick's voice sounded as though he'd been told quite a tale and from the tone he didn't sound too convinced about the validity, "Bullimore says that Austin Shields is something of an artist and has been painting with watercolours and poster paints. The staff had checked all of his painting stuff when it had been brought in for him, so that nothing metal would have got past the metal detectors, but I looked at the large palette box of watercolours. I reckon the palette had been lifted out of the plastic box and the sharpened brush handle had been stuck underneath the palette so it wouldn't be noticed when inspected. There were still signs of sticky tape that could have held it into position. Shields has been a model prisoner so the guards probably thought him no trouble and gave it a cursory inspection before letting it be passed on to him."

"Have you spoken to Shields?" Reid asked.

"He'd been taken into solitary and the local police had tried to question him but he's clammed up. I'm going to have a go when I've finished this call because the hospital said that the intestinal repair was going to take hours."

"Right, I'll get Barbara to find out as much as she can about Austin Shields and his associates and I'll get on to Adam Priest and Roy as they will want to be kept informed of these developments. Let me know if you want me to come and help with the questioning."

Barbara Phelps was already summoning up data on her computer screen but Shields had no prior history of violence and was on remand for distributing photographic images of young boys in the Annapolis area. The boys in question had been his girl friend's sons aged 5 and 7 and it had been the boys' mother who had informed the police about his behaviour.

Meanwhile, Spencer had gone into the deputy's office and found the number for Adam Priest, he dialled it and hoped that the man was still up. The phone was picked up within seconds and the voice sounded very alert.

"Adam Priest,"

"Spencer Reid, sir,"

"Spencer, what's wrong?"

"Brian Rankin has been stabbed and is under-going surgery as we speak. The assailant, Austin Shields, is a fellow sex offender on the same section but he's so far refused to speak to the police but Rick's going to interview him."

"Oh…that's all we need. Right well, you'd better tell Roy of these events and try and find what connection Shields may have with any of the others of Rankin's associates. Don't disturb Danielle unless you feel it's really necessary, who's on duty in the unit?"

"Barbara Phelps."

"She's a solid sort. Lets hope Rankin survives, stomach wound did you say?"

"Yes, a wooden sharpened paintbrush handle rammed into the intestines …"

"Sounds nasty and deliberate…a set up job to silence Rankin by the sounds of things so we'd better watch him carefully. I'll arrange with the authorities for a guard at the hospital for when he comes out of surgery. I'll be in about 6:30 and we'll see how things have developed by then. See you later."

"Yes, good night."

Spencer then called Roy's number. A sleepy man picked up the phone.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Roy, but this is Spencer Reid …"

"Spencer!" Roy repeated groggily and reached through the fog of his sleepy mind to surface to the moment, "What's happened?"

"Rankin's in surgery having been stabbed by a fellow inmate in the segregation unit."

"Oh Christ! That's all we need. Does Adam know?"

"Yes, I rang him first and he wanted you informed aswell, although I was going to call you anyway."

"Are you in Baltimore?"

"No, Rick's on site and was going to interview Austin Shields, the inmate who stabbed Rankin."

"Austin Shields? Not a name I know, I think he was one of Andrea's cases. Is he in Danielle's data base from the Club?" Roy asked now all very alert.

"I'm running his picture against Danielle's files as we speak. He's not in the list of men identified so I'm running against the individual photo images but the picture recognition takes longer than you think…especially when you want an answer," Spencer replied ruefully.

"Has Danielle finished cataloguing all that film material we had from Gerald and Nigel?"

"She had finished the Gerald material but there are still some stills to try and identify from Nigel's collection," Reid replied observing the screen. "He's negative for Gerald's material," he informed Roy. Then he held the phone in place by his shoulder as he taped the keys to activate the other programme containing the data identified from Nigel's visits.

"What's your take on this as a profiler, Spencer?" Roy asked.

"I can't see an obvious motive at the moment for the attack unless we can make a connection between the two men. As far as we know, Rankin has shown only an interest in underage girls and certainly no interest in boys who appear to be the target of Shields. Shields has only had one visitor since being in the Baltimore Facility and that's his brother, Gary."

Barbara suddenly tapped on the door and Spencer looked up in expectation.

"Shields brother, Gary, is a driver for Wallace Torte's family business. Torte was involved in the Philadelphia Clubs racket that gave us the tip off for the Rankin club. The Torte's have a legitimate delivery company, distributing car parts from a centralised warehouse to smaller repair garages. In the past couple of years they have expanded to a mail ordering service for the spare parts aswell. Gary Shields is one of Torte's drivers delivering to the smaller garages and some special direct deliveries to private homes. Torte's wife has taken over running the business while her husband is awaiting trial."

"Did you get that Roy?"

"Loud and clear, so we have a connection, a bit tenuous but I bet if we lean on Gary we might get something."

"Yeah, I'll call Rick and tell him what we've found… it might help to get Shields talking."

"Spencer, I don't want to tell you how to do your job but Tony and Carl were in on the co-ordination of the work with Philadelphia and it may help to call them in on this because they know the people running things that end."

"Thanks for the advice Roy, I'll give them a call and see if we can start making some firm connections."

Spencer ended the call and rang Rick with the information he had so far. Rick seemed to know the Torte name and again tentatively advised getting Tony and Carl in too.

"Yeah, that's what Roy suggested but I wanted to keep you in the loop as to what we have this end."

The security tape was delivered to the office and Barbara took it to the technician on duty to see if he could enhance the quality. The young man, who looked as if he was straight from school with his fresh countenance, was like an eager puppy because he'd had quite a boring shift so far.

Within the hour, Tony and Carl had both arrived at the office and were mulling over what they knew about the Torte Spares Delivery Company.

"It was originally owned by the father-in-law and that's why the wife has taken control of it again, she still has the controlling share in the business. In effect her father left it to her and Wallace seemed happy to just use it as a front. He's deep in the club side. He put up money for his friend, Michael Wells to buy the building that housed the club upstairs. Wallace Torte claims he believed it was a legit packing business for golfing supplies and was just helping an old golfing friend to set up a business as a sleeping partner. Torte's defence is he just took a cut of the profits, 20 per cent each year, but he'd nothing to do with the running of it and he didn't know about what was going on upstairs at night." Tony explained as he sipped freshly made coffee.

"Do you believe him?" Spencer asked.

"On paper that's just what it looks like…a business venture where he took a cut for buying the building, a sort of rent but the Serious Organised Crime Squad in Philadelphia were digging hard against him. But we don't have him ever going to the building at night and that is of course when the club was operating." Tony replied.

"So unless we can actually prove that Torte knew what was going on there then he's likely to get off. He had to provide a half million bail and surrender his passport. His wife provided the money and he's kept to his house since and not drawn any attention to himself," Carl added.

"Are his calls being monitored?"

"Yeah, but I don't think anything suspicious has come up, seems to be mostly calls to his son, who's studying in California, and his lawyer." replied Carl reviewing on screen the file of surveillance that had been sent to them from the Philadelphia Field Office.

"So that leaves the wife," stated Spencer unemotionally, "She's running the business therefore she would see her drivers, no need to risk phone calls, and it would all seem so natural if she was giving the brother orders…"

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a suspicious mind?" asked Carl with a twinkle in his dark eyes.

"It comes with the profiler tag!" Spencer bounced back.

"So would you gentlemen like to pay the Tortes a visit and Gary Shields?"

"We'd just love a trip to Philly…Can we take Barbara aswell because of the woman?" asked Tony.

"Of course, we'll call up the next junior on the list."

"Sure likes his power doesn't he?" said Carl with mischief to Tony and the three men grinned as Spencer Reid headed to the bullpen area to give Barbara her latest orders and to find out who was to replace her on the desk.

The tall and willowy redhead, Colleen O'Rouke replaced the 'mousy' Barbara on the desk. Spencer worked in the deputy's office looking at the material Danielle had not catalogued yet in the hope that Austin Shields, or his brother, would be among the clients. Neither of the brothers could be connected to Rankin by the visual material the unit had. Spencer felt very tired by 6 o'clock when Adam Priest walked through the door.

"How's it going?" the Agent in Charge of the Complex asked.

"Well I've been going through the visual evidence we have for the Rankin case and I've not found Austin or Gary Shields as clients of Rankin's club. There is a tentative connection with Wallace Torte because Gary Shields works for the Torte business as a driver …that seems to be run these days by the wife. Tony and Carl have taken Barbara Phelps with them to interview the Tortes and Gary Shields in Philadelphia. Rankin is out of surgery and is in intensive care. He lost a lot of blood and he's very weak after a five hour operation so he'll be in no fit state to be interviewed because of the sedation…Probably be at least a couple of days before the doctors will let us near him but he's under guard now. The audio-visual technician is trying to enhance a grainy video-tape that recorded the incident…" Reid noticed the china blue eyes flash at that detail.

"Apparently the monitoring cameras have not been up-dated in that part of the building yet."

Adam shook his head and wondered what else could go wrong with this.

"Has Rick got anything out of Austin Shields?" Adam asked hoping for some good news.

"Not a word. Apparently he's just silently sitting there refusing to say anything about the incident and has not responded to Rick trying to needle him with our theory that his brother gave him the orders to stab Rankin."

"Is Rick on his way back?"

"No, he thought he would keep asking questions at the prison. He wanted to speak to all the other prisoners who were there and the two guards who should have been covering the unit. The police had been taking statements but he felt that things were just not feeling right!"

Adam sat quietly mulling over the details and then suddenly said, "When did you get married?"

Spencer grinned, "Christmas Eve, it was at Jo's parents house, just immediate family."

Adam smiled warmly and his blue eyes twinkled in delight, "Great news, congratulations…Has any one else noticed?"

"No you're the first!"

"They'll kick themselves when they do but it's a case of minds concentrated on the problem in hand and familiarity breeds contempt!"

"So your mind is not on the case!" quipped Spencer.

"No, I don't work with you every day so I'm more likely to see a ring! It's big enough to see…Like I said, they'll be annoyed with themselves…I wonder how long it will take them to notice?"

The two men laughed together and Spencer thought how friendly College Park was and he couldn't imagine himself back at Quantico drinking coffee with the Director, or Strauss come to that, laughing about how his colleagues had not noticed his wedding ring. However, part of his mind thought that Hotch would have noticed had he still been at the BAU and probably Barry and Anderson and then there was the all seeing Garcia…not much escaped Garcia! Adam Priest left soon after, advising Spencer to catch up on a few hours sleep while he could.

Aaron Hotchner had made a point of deliberately not logging on to the computer on Christmas Day. It was now another day and after breakfast he slipped into his study while Hayley was clearing away the breakfast things and Jack was happily still content to play with the train set. It had been well worth the money for the attention that his son had given the track and the engines. They were amazed at the language that was suddenly coming from their son as he talked about the journey each engine was making around the lay out.

Hotch worked his way down the usual seasonal greetings from absent friends and scattered colleagues and stopped at the one from Spencer and Jo a little puzzled, he'd not expected a message from Reid because they had received a Christmas card.

"Jo and Spencer wish to announce that they married on Christmas Eve in a quiet and brief legal ceremony held in the study of the Petersen home. There were only immediate family present together with the judge, who officiated, and his wife. We enclose a photo taken of the occasion.

We hope that you are enjoying the seasonal festivities.

Jo and Spencer Reid."

Hotch grinned at the attachment and printed it off.

"Hayley!" he called to summon his wife's attention.

Penelope Garcia had volunteered to work in 'general cover' for the Christmas Day period because she could not get home to be with her extended family in Los Angeles where the Garcias' now lived. Usually it was a pleasant experience working the Christmas shift because staff brought in extra treats and everyone made the effort to be kind and chatty with anyone who had given up their time to allow those with children to enjoy the festivities. In the evening, she had met up with one of her diet buddies, Janine, and they had gone to a Homeless Shelter in Washington where Janine worked and helped with the meal and entertainment. This all meant that Garcia hadn't bothered to check her personal messages until the next day, just like Hotch.

She was pleased to see that there was a message from her 'Junior G man' as she still affectionately thought of Reid. She clicked and was stunned by the content….

"Wow!!!" she yelled to the walls of her apartment, "Our Genius has married…and Oh my…He looks good in a suit! Oh so that's what Jo looks like….But she's dark haired…I always thought he'd go for a blond, but that figure…all woman…thata girl! What a fantastic colour for a wedding dress. It's just beautiful…."

She suddenly reached for her phone and dialled a familiar number, a sleepy female voice answered.

"Garcia…please tell me this is not a case."

"No…it's far more important than a case…I've had an e-mail from Reid…"

"Mmmm so?" the sleepy voice interjected.

"J.J. wake up now this is fantastic…"

"What is?"

"Spencer has married Jo!" the excited Garcia loudly announced.

Jennifer Jareau lay in her bed trying to take in the news she thought her friend had just told her…

"Reid's married? To Jo?" her sleepy mind finally slipping into gear and she began to regret the third glass of claret she had drunk the previous evening.

"Who else would he marry?" said Garcia and asked suspiciously, "Have you got a hang over?"

"Mmm… well not quite, but I probably had one glass too many of a very fine claret. I wonder if he's sent me a message too?"

It was certainly an incentive to try and get up as Garcia was still prattling on in the back ground about the photo he'd attached.

The Morgan family was revelling in the fact that Derek had got himself engaged to a very respectable and really nice woman. The Morgan women were in the kitchen with Angela preparing yet another wonderful meal and Morgan was making the most of being the spoilt male recipient. He was thoroughly enjoying the attention that he and Angela had been getting since he'd been home but he now found a few minutes to log on to his messages. It was satisfying to receive the congratulations following his engagement news. He had received a nice message from Reid at the beginning of the week so he was a little puzzled to find another message listed from him. He smugly thought that Reid and Jo had probably followed his own lead. He clicked on the message and his eyes widened with the news and his face split into a broad grin.

"Hey Momma! You remember Reid? He's married…" he yelled and the four women all scurried to his side to stare at the message on the computer screen.

Morgan sat and stared at the typed words and thought about the young agent who had skipped the engagement stage but that was typical of the man who had just gone for what he thought was the most important bit.

"No photo?" Mrs Morgan asked.

"Probably just sent out a general message, I'll send our 'congrats' and ask him for a picture…I don't know what Jo looks like either." Derek's fingers raced over the keys and hoped that Reid was going to answer his request before the day was out or the suspense would be hell with the women all wanting to know.

Spencer Reid snatched a few hours sleep on the couch in the deputy's office. Katie had it put there when Danielle had her first pregnancy and it had remained at the far end and was occasionally used during long enquires. He came to at nearly 10 o'clock and felt much more alert. He went to the Men's Room to freshen up and got a mug of coffee before going to find out what had been happening from Colleen.

"Hugo, the tech who's been playing with the video, has put a better image of the incident on DVD. He brought it in about 40 minutes ago but Adam had been here when it arrived and told me not to disturb you. Adam had brought in some freshly made rolls as well so I put them in the fridge along with the cheesecake his wife had sent in." Colleen reported to the senior agent.

"Cheesecake?"

"Yeah," Colleen grinned, "It's real civilised here isn't it …but she made several so each of this wings working offices could have one as a treat. I know we're on skeleton staff, and it's only about 30 of us all told, but it was thoughtful."

"Very, my former boss's wife might have done that if her husband had been working in the office just for the unit. But I couldn't imagine even the section head making the effort because its just so big at Quantico," Spencer remarked and went to the kitchen to find what food had been left in the fridge.

After making another coffee he loaded a plate with a chicken and salad roll and cut himself a generous slice of lemon cheesecake. He began to realise why the people here wanted to keep it quiet that the College Park complex was a gem of a posting. He went back to the office and decided to check his e-mails while he ate. He sent Morgan the requested photo and thanked them for their best wishes and briefly said that he was at that moment at his desk due to an incident so his own Christmas plans had been disrupted. Various other acquaintances had requested a photo too and he spent several minutes dealing with these and now regretted not sending the attachment with the original announcement to all the recipients. After 20 minutes of e-mailing, Spencer felt guilty but the food and brief diversion of his e-mails made him feel more refreshed to return to the case in hand.

He played the DVD that Hugo had brought in and began to watch the scene of the late activities on the segregation wing. It was as the other prisoners had originally reported a totally unprovoked attack. Austin Shields was a big man, the well-developed muscles and bulk implied his twin addiction to steroids and weight-training. The weapon had been pushed in his sock until he had judged the time right to bend down as if to scratch his leg. Then he'd pulled the wooden weapon out of it's hiding place and swiftly plunged it, with all his force, into the intestines of the man he'd been sitting next to. The fellow prisoners had been taken by surprise but it was not Rankin who had lashed out at the assailant but another prisoner. Rankin was in too much pain and two of the prisoners had gone to his aid, while another ran to the barred gate to shout for help. The man who had lashed out at Shields was an enormous Black American and looking down the list Reid identified him as Edward Mann, on remand for sex with a minor, namely his girl friend's daughter. Mann seemed to effectively keep Shields from getting any closer to the fallen prisoner, whose blood was spreading soaking his clothing, the tip of the stake just visible. Reid realised why the prison staff, all of whom were trained in first aid, didn't touch the wound and the para-medics seemed to agree with their initial decision.

Looking at the response time to the incident, there was a delay of three minutes before the first guard responded and he didn't go into the wing but assessed the situation from the barred gate and then called for his partner. Three more minutes passed before the other man appeared and during this time the first guard had used his cell phone to call for medical help and further guards. It was 8 minutes before 6 other prison personnel arrived and 16 minutes after Rankin had been stabbed before the para-medics got to him. It was just as Rick had surmised, there was a definite complacency amongst the staff because of the lack of trouble previous years. The response time to the trouble had been appalling and why had the 'security cameras' not been monitored properly because an operator should have picked up the incident and summoned help. There were a lot of questions to be answered by the prison authorities.

Reid leaned back in his chair. It looked like a very bad wound and an obvious attempt to kill and it still could, the post operative period was no guarantee that Rankin would survive the attack. The agent reviewed the facts of the Rankin case. Roy and Katie had been so sure that Rankin was more important than he made out and from this attack it was obvious that some one wanted him silenced, either permanently, or to scare him enough to hold his tongue. There was just a tentative connection of running a similar venue to the Philadelphia set up but Roy still reckoned that Rankin treated his girls well compared with the Philadelphia club. It must be something big for an unknown to risk a charge of murder… Reid felt uneasy, there were too many unknown operators pulling the strings…and at the moment even the strings were invisible until you got an inexplicable incident like this.

He turned his mind once more on the Shields connection. Austin's crime was photographing small boys and selling the porn he produced but it appeared that he was only operating in a limited geographical area. The police had made a cursory look at the files on Shields' computer but had not discovered any indication on his machine that he had put the images on the internet. Perhaps he had used a different outlet, another computer, like a friend's, or sold the images to someone who put the images out there for a wider audience. The file noted that the computer had been passed on to their Field Office but there was also a backlog of work for the Computer Forensics people. Suddenly Spencer began to think about taking a look at the hard drive himself. His mind raced on; perhaps Austin Shields had a secret stash on an external memory that was encrypted for use on a specific machine. Reid could think of several possibilities because just photographing his girlfriend's sons seemed too tame alongside his amateurish method of distribution. This man was a trained car mechanic and had worked at the same garage for ten years and seemed to have been considered a good and reliable employee. Something wasn't quite right, it was too simple and why should he attempt to murder Rankin. The original offence would have led to a few years in prison and being put on the Sex Offenders Register but it was a first offence so why take on a possible murder rap?

"Hello Spencer!" said a familiar voice and Reid looked up to see the dark Latin looks of Rick standing before his desk with a mug of coffee in one hand and a beef roll with relish on a plate in the other.

"Hi… was just thinking!" mumbled Reid who had not heard Rick come into the office.

"Yeah, I could tell from the far away look that the Genius was at work," replied Rick with a grin.

"How did you get on?" asked Reid once more trying to focus on the more immediate details of the case.

"I'm appalled by the lax procedures in that holding centre. I went and questioned the camera operator, he finally admitted that he was chatting to his girlfriend and missed all the action. If you ask me it's probably a case of telephone sex!" Rick sat down and took a swig of the coffee and savoured the taste. "Shields's maintaining his silence. The two guards are shook up, the second one really had to go to the men's room and hence the delay when his partner called for his help. The other guard at least had the sense to call the central control room for an ambulance and get more help. He did follow procedures by not entering until his partner joined him but they were very lucky. Can you imagine something like that at some of our more hardened prison establishments…They were fortunate in having just 6 well behaved prisoners and only one who turned assailant and another who cuffed him and kept him away from the injured man."

"Yeah, I've just been watching the enhanced recording of the incident. Mann was the only one who could have taken on Shields because he matched his size, the others look weaklings beside Mann."

"You should see him in the flesh... He's BIG!" Rick's voice grew with the expression and his large dark eyes popped alongside the words. Reid couldn't help a smile creep across his face.

"So you think only Shields is really involved in the incident?"

"Look, like I originally reported, the place has been lax in its search procedures but if they usually have fairly tame inmates then they slip into complacency. My gut feeling is that the authorities didn't knowingly help but anyone aware of the lax procedures could have seen that the regime could be taken advantage of. I think we will find more leaning on the brother."

"Tony and Carl are on their way to see him and the Tortes…they've taken Barbara Phelps with them aswell."

"Good, she's got good instincts when it comes to women…She's pretty hard on them but she gets results by her tenacious digging."

"But you were looking deep in thought when I came in?" Rick said after a few more sips of coffee.

"I was thinking about Shields and if he was in deeper than just dealing in the photographs. It was such a localised area unless we have only just picked up on him and he's really been active for some time and so far had been good at covering his tracks," said Spencer who was watching Rick carefully for his reaction. Rick was chewing on his roll and thinking about Reid's suggestion.

"We didn't find any hard evidence and he wouldn't have been caught if it had not been his girl friend who reported him. Her eldest son told her what Shields was doing to the brothers and she went straight to the police. Poor woman was terrified that her children would be taken away from her, but basically she was duped by Shields's charming ways. Katie spent sometime interviewing her and wrote a report in the woman's favour so social services were kept at bay. But if he has been doing this for some time then there are other women out there who he has duped to get at their sons…and perhaps daughters, but he seems to like boys."

"You traced some other women then?" asked Reid feeling that there was something more to this.

"The police traced two former girlfriends, both with boys. They both said that they broke off the relationship because they moved away, the excuse being for better work. They certainly got work but it wasn't a step up from what they had been doing."

"So they didn't want to get involved and refused us access to their sons," Reid pressed wanting to know how far they had gone.

"Exactly. We can't do anything unless these parents trust us. They usually don't want their children reminded of the things done to them and feel getting away to another town or city and starting afresh will help their children forget, but as we know the children often remember. With the women involved, Amanda spoke to one and Melanie the other. They were advised to get some counselling for the children but that would mean admitting that something had happened and they had introduced a monster into the home."

"It must be very hard for those mothers," Spencer sympathetically added, "The guilt for the mothers must be enormous, not just for what they see as their own lack of judgement, but because they also feel that they have failed to protect their children and the very trust their child puts in them to keep them safe."

"That's just it, Spencer. These were not bad mothers, they were just deceived and sex offenders who prey on children are very skilful at targeting the single woman with children and no apparent family unit to offer extra support. Often these women have had partners who have left, or they're divorced, trying to hold down jobs and be a good parent. They are ideal prey for such a man; he may seem to be a caring, charming man who is proving to be so different to the former partner. He's good with the son, she may see the man as a good role model for the child because the real father's not around…You see how easy it is? It's one thing to read about all of this in a text book but the reality on the ground it really can screw the way you look at life if you're not careful."

Spencer Reid nodded and thought how the world of the CACU saw darkness and suspicion in so many places. It was so sad because there were a lot of innocent and genuine men who fell in love with women who had children but they were not paedophiles. He thought about his immediate neighbours who both had children and were very relaxed with him because he worked at this unit and therefore was 'safe' for their children to talk to. But he had also heard Melinda and Craig cautioning the confidently chatty Lydia not to talk to strangers…and Melinda had confessed that Lydia had a worrying tendency to talk to anyone. It was a child's innocence but unfortunately there were adults who were capable of destroying that innocent world.

Rick and Spencer decided to take a further look at the computer that had been in Shields's possession when arrested while they waited for the reports from their colleagues following the Philadelphia line of enquiry. Spencer explained, as they headed towards the Computer Forensics department, that perhaps steganography (the art and science of hidden messages) held the key to breaching the impenetrable wall they had found in this Rankin case. It was an area of computing that fascinated Spencer but he'd never revealed his level of expertise in the subject to the Bureau before.

To the north of Washington was a very exclusive clinic, called Lavinia House, it dealt only with alcohol abuse and drink dependency problems. It was very expensive but the clientele were guaranteed their privacy within its grounds and it had an excellent reputation for the de-tox and counselling procedures it offered.

Once Max had been alerted to the possible problems that Katie Cole was experiencing he had made initial plans, backed by the Director, to discreetly offer Katie a spell at Lavinia House. She was not the first, nor would she be the last, valued member of the Bureau to succumb to the pleasures of the bottle that began with only the odd drink some evenings only for that to become a drink every night, then several drinks a night. Sometimes this drinking became the morning routine before going to work too; some agents needing their chosen drink to cope with the hangover of the previous nights binge, while others needed a drink just to face the stresses of the job. Alcohol dependency could affect anyone in a stressful position, while others slipped into the need for a drink to keep depression at bay or loneliness and sometimes to help them to forget a particular incident. Often there were a number of reasons for the gradual slide, these could be purely personally based while for others they were more job related or a combination of both. But once things started to be noticed in the work place then it was harder to deal with the problem quietly.

Max was a great believer in trying to pick up on these things early, nipping things in the bud held a better chance of helping the 'drinker' to cope with the growing problem. Ideally, it would be best for the excessive drinker to stop drinking alcohol completely but not all managed to do this and it also very much depended on the stage that the dependency was picked up. Max liked the 'earlier the better' approach and every year he gave all department heads a talk about the signs and the need to not turn a blind eye. The odd occasion after a really bad incident just might be the way certain agents coped but the tendency to rely upon this method to cope with aftermath stress was dangerous. The Head of Psychological Services always stressed that his people were there to help, not to destroy an agent's career, and many agents remained in their work after a run in with too much drink.

Arthur's observations at the Christmas get together had confirmed Reid's fears. Both of the psychs were pleased that the younger man had the sense to share his concerns about his new boss. On the Wednesday before Christmas, Arthur had confronted Katie and the older psych had watched how subdued the woman had seemed which made him believe that depression was probably an underlying cause in her case. Arthur had gone to her office fully prepared to have a battle with the woman but she had admitted that she was drinking sherry at night to get to sleep and then finishing off the bottle over breakfast before work. It was a good sign that she didn't put up any resistance compared to other agents and personnel Arthur had dealt with in the past.

Katie had agreed to the plan put to her. That evening she would leave with Arthur and be taken to the clinic where treatment could be started immediately to break the destructive cycle she had fallen in. The CACU would be told that she had a meeting with the Director the next day and she'd leave a little earlier than usual to pack her case at home and wait for Arthur to transport her to Lavinia House. Then the unit would think that Thursday was spent with the Director but the unit would later be informed by Ida, the Director's secretary, that Katie had not seemed well and she had come down with a high temperature. Ida would further add that they all thought it was flu so not to expect her back at work for at least a week.

When Danielle had taken this call she had confided in Ida that she was not surprised that Katie had succumbed to whatever was doing the rounds because Katie didn't get enough rest so she was a prime candidate to get flu.

As Max remarked it was the perfect cover because there was a lot of flu about and then it would be very easy to extend the week off work to another week if she then developed a chest infection. It was the little white lies that helped to keep up appearances so that personnel could keep their dignity amongst their own staff while trying to sort out the problem.

The Bureau, although discreet, made a point of not wanting to lose well trained people if they could help it and support after a spell at Lavinia House was essential to the success of the counselling that would be started there. From now on, Max and his people would keep an eye on Katie and continue discreet counselling sessions once she returned to work.

However, as Katie now sat in her comfortable room at Lavinia House this future seemed very far away. She had been here since Wednesday evening and, now five days later, she was over the worse of the original detox. It had come as a shock to her just how badly she reacted to the detox procedure. She was an experienced psych and knew what was going to happen, she had read the books and had even in the past recommended people for help here but she had never thought that one day she would be walking through its doors. It was a strange situation for a trained psych to find themselves as the patient rather than the practitioner because part of the patient couldn't totally switch off the psychologist part of their brain. It was like standing apart from what was happening to yourself but at the same time knowing that as a patient you needed to go through these stages of treatment.

So far she had to admit that the knowledge that the first 48 hours, without an alcoholic drink, were going to be the worse still came as a shock. It was only with this physical reaction to the withdrawal that Katie fully realised just how dependent she had become on her evening glasses of sherry. However, she also acknowledged to herself that the withdrawal symptoms could have been far worse had the dependency been more acute. Now on her fifth full day here, she was feeling humbled by the care that was being given to her and that a young man had been responsible for bringing her problems to her employers. It was strange, she smiled to herself at the irony of it all, there was Spencer Reid who had to keep having random drug tests because he'd been given against his will a highly addictive drug. But she had been slipping into an unconscious routine that had lead to a dependency upon a glass of sherry before bed but that had somewhere along the line become the drink as soon she came through her door.

Alcohol was not illegal unlike the drugs that others were tempted to try, but she had still been the lonely drinker at home, never at a public function. She had admitted to Faith, her counsellor here, that her subconscious was trying to keep it all secret with her deliberate behaviour of soft drinks only at social gatherings and agency functions. The two women had discussed the 'secrecy' angle of this and Katie explained in a detached way that she could now understand what she was doing but she had never questioned herself over her actions while she was involved in them. Katie thought about the conversation she had with Faith an hour ago in the consult room….

"Can you remember when you started to have a glass of sherry before bedtime?" the white haired Faith asked. She was Katie's age but her once black hair had turned white over the past decade although she was confident in her own image to let the world see her age naturally. It was still long and straight and pulled back from her face and held in a black hairclip at the nape of her neck. Faith had large dark brown eyes and a long face with high cheekbones that implied some native American Indian ancestry. She sat opposite Katie in a matching easy chair looking totally relaxed in a pale blue cashmere sweater worn with navy slacks that encased her long slender legs. Faith was a good 6 inches taller than Katie but she didn't slouch enjoying the clotheshorse figure that still allowed her to wear fashionable clothes and she liked modern chunky jewellery. Thick shiny black bangles graced her right arm and she wore large silver and sapphire drop ear-rings in the shape of large silver discs with a sapphire in the centre.

Katie thought hard to try to pinpoint the time that her sherry drinking had begun.

"I think it was about a month before Joseph and I broke up. I remember snapping at him because he made a remark about the sherry."

"What did Joseph say?" Faith probed gently knowing that she was forming a good idea as to what lay at the bottom of this woman's drinking.

"Oh…something like…'You're developing quite a taste for sweet sherry'…I snapped at him. It must have been a defensive reaction now I think about it, I wasn't analysing my actions but subconsciously I must have known I was beginning to get into a pattern. It's a form of self denial," Katie replied sadly and could see where all this was leading.

"Yes it was and just because you're a psychologist doesn't make you immune. Some people get into a pattern of heavy drinking and it doesn't tip into alcoholism because they can still limit their intake. However, you know that a true alcoholic gets to a point where they cannot stop…they just cannot limit their intake and then they must try to abstain for the rest of their lives. But heavy drinking still holds it health risks which I know you're very aware of but we never think those risks are going to personally affect us."

"Yes, I really should be grateful for Arthur and the FBI for pulling me up on this," Katie said feeling very subdued as the consequences for her career had begun to hit her with the easing of the withdrawal symptoms.

Faith nodded and smiled at her patient's self-awareness, Katie was a very astute woman and a very strong personality.

"Why do you think you started needing the sherry in the first place?" Faith continued while the woman still seemed willing to talk on this personal level.

"I'm not sure I remember. Perhaps it wasn't really just one reason but work was pretty heavy and there was a lot of staff having days off due to a stomach bug going round the College Park departments. I guess I was tired but I couldn't relax enough to sleep and Joseph didn't seem to be helping," Katie replied and looked up to observe Faith's reaction.

Faith didn't say anything but gently nodded, hoping that the woman would continue.

"I think our relationship was just fizzling out. The demands of the job can be hell on a relationship because of the nature of the work …we can be called out at anytime if a child is in danger. There are not many men who can cope with it, they expect a woman to put up with their working hours but not the other way round. It sounds very sexist doesn't it but I'm talking the reality here not the ideology of feminist equality. In the real world, women are still the ones juggling family and career around their partner's career!"

"But you don't have a family and you said yesterday that, even though you were sterile, you never wanted to adopt."

"That's right, I enjoy my own work too much. Working for the good of children is very satisfying and I'm the doting auntie for my brother's sons. I don't think I would have been a very good mother, I would probably have ended up employing a nanny and still committing myself to the work I enjoy."

"At least you're honest about it, Katie. Not every woman is cut out to be a mother and I'm sure that you've met enough in your work to know what damage such women can do by their benign neglect of any children …and I'm being generous with the word benign!" Faith clarified in a rueful tone.

"Oh yes, we have some women in the Bureau who should never have had children. They have produced the 'heir and a spare' and are then able to return to the work they enjoy feeling that they have done their familial duty."

"So you think you began having this evening drink as something to wind down with and perhaps because you knew something was failing in your relationship but you didn't want to confront it or were too tired to?"

"Something like that…" Katie admitted, "I've had other relationships end in a similar fashion but I just couldn't confront Joseph with it. In the end, I came home to find he had gone and I can't say that I was particularly upset…I think I felt more relieved if I'm totally honest. I'd grown bored with him and he with me, there was no future in it but I just hadn't the energy to end it."

"So with Joseph gone and a heavy workload you didn't make the effort to socialise after work but drifted into the pattern of having your drink alone at night."

"Yes," Katie solemnly agreed and thought how pathetic she sounded.

"You know what I'm going to say don't you?" said Faith softly at the intelligent and likeable woman opposite her.

Katie looked up and smiled ruefully at the counsellor.

"Oh yes, I've let the work take over my life and really I need to get the work and private life back into balance and not have any drink in the house to stop me being a secret drinker."

"Yeah, something like that but we both know it's easy to say but to put that all into practice is what we have to work out." Faith replied knowing that in her work at this clinic she dealt with people who were very aware of what they should do and it was often more of a question of their addiction to the work they did. It was all very well to be dedicated but one's work was not and should never be your sole purpose in life.

Katie stared out at the rained drenched garden from her window. Faith was a good counsellor but Katie wondered how long she would be here and what was happening back at the unit. Yesterday she had seen some of the other patients here, all known by their first names only, as she was allowed to join the communal dining area and common room. It was a good sign it meant that her initial de-tox was on track and now they were trying to get her eating properly to build up her strength. Katie had recognised a few of her fellow patients, the recognition may have been mutual but no-one alluded to their personal drink problems. It was like being in an exclusive club were the rules were to never talk about work or why you were here. Those well-known faces shouldn't have surprised her really, as she knew that drink related problems could affect anyone and yet there was this underlying secrecy about this existence. There was a knock on her door and Katie was surprised to find her private time disturbed,

"Come," she called.

Max Pentall walked in and smiled, "Merry Christmas and how are you feeling?"

"Well considering that I spent the proper Christmas period getting over the de-toxing…Good! Yeah I think I'm coping so far," she admitted.

"The staff here are very impressed with your co-operation but the Director and myself don't want you back at College Park just yet. Faith is very pleased with your response to the programme so far because you seem to have a very good understanding of how you got here."

"Oh yeah… Secret sherry drinking and self denial," she replied honestly.

"Katie you work in a very stressful unit and you have been the head of that unit for a long time," Max replied evenly.

"Are you implying that I'm ineffective in my job?" Katie suddenly fiercely interjected.

"No, not at all," Max soothed noting her feisty mood and how insecure she must be feeling at the moment, "In fact the Bureau is very impressed with your work and achievements at the CACU."

"Really, Danielle is very competent and Dr. Reid has impressed Adam,"

"But not you?" Max asked mildly and wondered if Katie was feeling so insecure that she might lash out at Reid when she returned for mentioning his suspicions to Arthur.

Katie stopped and thought about his question. "Actually Reid hit the ground running and he's worked very hard and taken advice when offered by all those more experienced agents in the unit. He's got an even temperament and acknowledges that he has had to take a lot on board over the real CACU work on the ground."

Max nodded and he was relieved to hear her thoughtful reply.

"Reid is only with the CACU to cover for Danielle's maternity leave. It was you who requested him," Max reminded the woman before him. He thought she suddenly looked older and sadder today than he'd ever seen her.

"Yes, I did and I think Reid was a good choice and he has worked hard and fitted in very well."

"Good," answered Max with a smile, "I have some news for you about Reid,"

Katie's brown eyes looked at Max and he thought he noticed a momentary flash of fear in them before they settled to the more usual steady look.

"Reid married his Jo on Christmas Eve, at Jo's home, it was a very quiet affair."

Katie's face lit up in genuine pleasure, "Oh that's good news, they are a steady couple together and he's always ready to tell people that he was pleased that Jo came with him to Maryland."

Max nodded, "Yes, they make a good couple, they compliment each other well and I think she helps him keep the work in perspective. But Reid won't want to stay with the CACU once Danielle has had her baby, he sees himself more as a BAU profiler than CACU specialist."

Max saw that Katie seemed to relax at that re-assurance and he thought again how insecure Katie must be feeling but she really did have two very loyal deputies.

"Do they know that I'm here?" Katie suddenly asked.

"Arthur told Spencer the truth but it was agreed that no one else was to be told. Spencer Reid had been concerned for your welfare, Katie, and he didn't just sound off his concerns to all and sundry. Reid is a very sensitive and private person himself who respects other people's privacy so he only spoke to Arthur about his concerns and Arthur spoke to me. I had to tell the Director in order to get you booked into this fine establishment and you know it's the best! Even Adam has not been told the truth, everyone back at College Park think that you have a bad bout of the flu. Your brother and his family think you are working on an important case but that you hope to see them in the New Year. You see we really do try to keep the professional image of our agents intact. Over the years, we have found that it is best left to the individual agent whom they take into their confidence about their time here. We do have special support groups within the Washington area for our personnel who have alcohol problems but you are not like some of the people I know. There are alcoholics who still hold down responsible positions but they also admit that they need their fellow alcoholics support and that their path lies along the abstinence route."

"You sound as if you're saying that I'm not an alcoholic,"

"Do you think you are?" Max flashed back at her.

"No, I think I started to drink because of the work related stress at the time and the breakdown of my relationship. I'd got into the routine and in the end I was drinking without thinking about why," she said firmly and marvelled how she spoke clearly and realised how the counselling session with Faith had already worked some positive magic for her.

"Yes, I think we caught things early in your case but I don't want you going back to that routine that started the 'sherry drinking' in the first place. I want us to think about the things we can do to help you have a different routine once you go home," Max said gently.

Katie looked at this powerful man, who had a reputation for being the 'eminence gris' at the Bureau, and realised that he really was trying to help her.

Meanwhile, back at College Park, Rick and Ronald Felton in the Computer Forensics department were beginning to understand what the genius was capable of.

End of Chapter 10.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Interregnum: Chapter11 **

**by Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter1**

**Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages so that only the sender and receiver even knows there is a hidden message. Steganography can be used for a number of illegal activities, for example hiding records in financial fraud, industrial espionage and communications between member of criminal or terrorist organisations.**

Rick and Ronald Felton stared at the very young looking Dr. Reid as he scanned over the technical report the department had recently produced.

"So you didn't find anything?" he asked again.

"No, we checked the usual way like we do for you people, you know the trails left in the hard drive for porn sites and e-mails that looked suspicious, but Austin Shields's computer was very ordinary for a man. I mean there was the occasional visit to a girlie site, like the 'Playboy' equivalent on line, but nothing like hard porn and certainly nothing to do with children or we would have alerted you people," Ronald said defensively. He felt annoyed by this young man and liked to think that his over-worked department were efficient considering the resources they had.

"So you used the standard steganographic detection software?" Reid pressed the balding bespectacled forty something.

"Yes, but it has its limitations and works best if we have some clues as to the kind of cryptography that might have been used on the computer in the first place."

Reid looked up and felt that the lack of sleep was making him appear over critical of this department's efforts.

"Yes," he conceded and saw that the admission made Ronald relax a little in his office.

"But you didn't try anything more advanced?"

"Dr. Reid we didn't and this was an older type of machine. If it was a specially written programme with its own hidden key, undetectable to any of the detection software available to us, then we are never going to find it. With newer machines it can be even harder because of their greater storage capacity…it's easier to hide and of course it could always be hidden on an external hard drive so not even within a desktop machine."

"Look, I have contacts with people developing this detection hard ware, do you mind if we take this out of the evidence vault so I can see for myself. Perhaps by getting a feel for the machine I might be able to use some of the advanced ideas that are being explored at the moment but haven't been made widely available to forensic teams yet. If all else fails, it might give me some ideas to take to those people developing new detection ware and they might have some suggestions to try."

"Fine…As far as I'm concerned as long as you people follow the correct protocol that's all that matters in court. You can have the use of one of the rooms here but you know that it cannot be removed from this department. I wish you luck because I had Riley working on that computer for four days and he's good," replied Ronald turning to get the necessary forms to release the computer into the care of Katie's new deputy. Rick eyed Ronald sympathetically and wondered what Reid was really thinking because he felt that there was much more to this than the deputy was letting on.

The two men went to an empty workroom and waited for the computer to be brought to them. Then Rick watched Reid silently as he set up the machine but in the end Rick's curiosity got the better of him.

"You weren't being totally open with Ronald back there," Rick suddenly said and Spencer smiled at the instincts of this experienced agent.

"No, I wasn't, but I've had several ideas and I was telling the truth about wanting to get a feel for the machine. I want to start by looking at this machine's history, it just might help us to link this case with the Tortes."

"How, besides the brother who obviously gave Shields the paint box on a former visit?" asked Rick.

"Don't you think its odd…the attack on Rankin was totally unprovoked but Shields risks a murder rap…why? On the surface he's photographing his girlfriend's sons and not even using the internet to circulate the material but offering to sell it on the open market in his local area. Now that might imply incompetence or lack of experience in 'dealing'. I know Shields's defence is that it was his first time but something doesn't feel right. I wonder if Shields was in a bit deeper but then broke the rules so his payment was to get rid of Rankin," Reid replied and his long fingers played along the keyboard and began to look at the past use of the machine that was revealed on the screen.

"Now look at this, the most frequented site visited, besides his email address, is Tortes Mail Order Spares!" said Spencer with a smile.

"Well, he is a car mechanic," replied Rick but then he instantly regretted the remark because this was Shields's home machine not the computer at the garage where he worked.

"But was he doing repairs in his spare time for an extra income?" Reid asked as he suddenly turned to a department computer and began to type and brought up the Torte site.

"Interesting," he said softly as if to himself but Rick was puzzled, what could Reid see on this very ordinary looking site that he could not.

"It looks very normal to me?" Rick said.

Reid looked up and smiled but Rick thought that the man didn't look as boyishly young. Suddenly, the eyes held a different quality as if they looked unfathomable and it made Rick feel uncomfortable.

"Yes, but then al-Qaeda and their terrorist supporters have been reported using porn sites on the internet to send hidden messages within the images," Spencer replied as he turned once more to scroll down the pictures of the spare parts available online along with their price and postage rates. "It looks so innocent doesn't it? But before spending time trying to find a steganographic detection program that might work on this, I'm going to hack the Torte customer data base." Reid announced confidently.

"Hack the customer data base…I'm trying to make a connection here Spencer?" Rick probed hoping the man before him would join a few more dots for his tired brain.

"I want to see if there is a connection with the names that Danielle has identified on her data-base and those on this site. If there is, then it could be pure co-incidence or it could point to a more sinister reason. Can you find me a spare external hard drive so I can down load any data I find from my hacking."

"Yeah, of course," answered Rick feeling that he was just beginning to realise why Dr. Spencer Reid was considered a genius. He went back to find Ronald who took him to the store cupboard where clean external drives and the smaller memory sticks were kept.

By the time he returned to the workroom, Reid had hacked into the Torte site and discovered two areas of interest. The first was the customer base that recorded who had actually bought spares and another area that listed the number of hits for a particular product.

"Brake pads for Volvos seem very popular and the wing mirrors for Lexus cars…I never knew they were so vulnerable," Reid said and grinned at Rick, "I own a very old Volvo that Jo's father has in his garage because he wants to restore it to pristine condition. But Alan has never remarked that the Volvo's brake pads were a weakness. Jo drives a new Lexus, and I have her old one, but she has never said that it has needed its wing mirrors replaced and she does a lot of driving especially when she's viewing prospective properties to renovate. Besides which, if the mirrors had a design fault it could have been easily fixed."

Rick connected the external hard drive to the machine and Spencer began to down load customer files from the site.

"Didn't take you long to hack into their site and you've even got the so called secure credit card details," remarked Rick as he looked at the first page of customer details in alphabetical order that was displayed on the screen.

"Now we need to check the other computers that have been seized in the Rankin case to see if the Torte site is popular with them as well. I'm sure that Ronald will want us to do this as quickly as possible, because of form filling for him, but if we share the work…"

"I understand, you want to see if the Torte site is on the 'most visited," replied Rick with a smile, and thought to himself that Reid was working up a storm to prove a point but if he was right they would need the evidence for the court case.

Ronald Felton let the CACU men get on with whatever theory they were working on. As long as they didn't expect his over-worked team to help after all the standard reports they had produced. His department had been one of those that had lost people due to the recent cuts. Felton had lost two very experienced men who had been re-deployed because of their expertise, one to New York and the other to Los Angeles.

After satisfying themselves over the 'popularity' of the Torte site, Spencer explained that there had to be another common factor that allowed you to read the hidden messages embedded in the innocent spares site. Rick and Spencer then spent time going through the lists of DVDs, memory sticks and external hard drives that had been found in the homes of the men arrested at Rankin's illegal club. They broke off for a late lunch and went back to the office to raid the CACU fridge for more food and much needed coffee. While taking this essential break, Spencer went to the deputy's office to run the customer name list against the names Danielle had identified in Gerald and Nigel's material.

He connected the external hard drive and deposited the information onto Danielle's computer. The task done, Reid keyed in the password to give him access to the Gerald data. He then ran the down loaded Torte data against Danielle's for any comparable hits. The computer revealed the connections and Spencer saved the details of the matching names. Spencer had particularly noticed Henry Duke's name and filed the information away in his brain. He then began to repeat the process for the Nigel data.

"I think we may be getting somewhere," Spencer said his big brown eyes shining at the connection he had just made. "Of course it could be pure co-incidence that the clientele of Rankin's Club were ordering car spares from the Torte site, but I think that site needs some in-depth investigation."

"But Ronald said they don't have any of the really advanced stuff…"

"I was going to try some of the stuff I know about and see if any of the programme algorithms I'm acquainted with work on this site. I suspect that they are using advanced cryptography that is not detectable by the usual steganographic programmes and that includes the more advanced ones available to the Bureau's Forensic Computing departments. I have worked on embedding data so its not detected before so I'll need to play around with this. It could take me months or it might prove to be one of my crazy ideas that goes no where."

"You remember all this advance code detection stuff in your head?" asked Rick in awe of the man tapping away at the computer. The men in the CACU all considered themselves very good with computers and methods of detection and site tracing but Reid was going to be playing in a different ballpark.

"My first doctorate was in theoretical mathematics," Spencer replied.

"How many doctorates do you have?"

"Three, the second is in theoretical physics and the last one in criminal psychology but I have interests in many areas," Reid answered as he began to speed read the screen of the names listed that were cross referenced with Nigel's material. Brian Rankin, Austin Shields and there was the rogue Bureau man. Reid felt that perhaps he was beginning to see a way into the forbidden maze. But he had also just produced a mountain of details to be further looked at in depth. All these names would need to be checked, even if they had innocently purchased the most popular products, there were weeks of work from just a few minutes of hacking. It could all be a false lead but Danielle would be kept very busy on the research. However, Reid had a gut feeling, and thinking himself into Rankin's shoes, if he wanted to keep special material secret then he'd certainly make sure that it was undetectable from the programmes specialist forensic units worked with. It really meant that he might end up writing his own programme to break the code…but then he liked an intellectual challenge. He saved the evidence for Danielle and closed down the computer programme.

"So," said Rick biting into a ham roll with mustard oozing from its sides, "You see any common DVD or memory stick that might let us into the hidden Torte site?"

Reid picked up his hot coffee and wondered how much to tell Rick but the older man was still talking.

"The films on DVD seemed to be just that, some pirate copies of commercial films and some standard porn, some more specialised stuff which we have still to go through and see if we can identify the children. Robert and Mike have been busy with the ones we'd not seen before but there is months of work…" Rick continued as the deputy didn't seem to be answering the question he'd asked.

"Yeah, but I'm going to gamble that it would be something that looked totally innocent because that way no one would guess its significance," replied Spencer sipping a second mug of coffee since returning to the office.

"Any suggestions to narrow the search…I mean you were speed reading your way through the listed stuff?" asked Rick hopefully.

Spencer looked up and smiled. Rick thought how impossibly young this man seemed and then he noticed.

"When did you get married to Jo?"

"Christmas Eve…just immediate family at her parents' home," he grinned thinking about the time it had taken Rick to notice.

"Lovely lady that…you make sure you treat her right…Just wait 'til I tell the rest of the guys…Anyone else noticed?"

"Adam did when he first showed up this morning," Spencer said and glanced at the office clock that told him that had all happened over 9 hours ago now.

Rick yawned, "Sorry, Spencer, guess the lack of sleep is finally catching up with me,"

Spencer couldn't stifle his own response, "I think we both need some sleep but at least I snatched a few hours before you got back. Why don't you go home and we'll see what tomorrow brings our way. We can't do any more with Rankin. Let's leave Shields to stew a bit…He doesn't want to talk to us but perhaps the next time we see him we will have something to prise the clam open with."

Rick didn't need much encouragement to go home and Reid leaned back in his chair thinking about the case and the descriptive lists of the things seized. The evidence amassed from the raid was enormous and only brief descriptions had been made as the evidence was logged and given an evidence identifying number. The DVDs, portable external drives and USB flash drives that contained child pornography had an asterisk against them and these were destined for investigators whose purpose was to identify the children involved. However, Spencer was convinced that what he was looking for wouldn't be embedded in one of these. He needed more coffee and he would continue to review the lists again while waiting for news of the Philadelphia trip.

An hour later he received a call from Tony, who said they were heading back but they had not been able to get anything out of the Tortes, even if their instincts told them that they were hiding something. Gary Shields admitted to taking art materials into the prison for his brother but maintained that he'd not even opened them and just passed them over to be checked by the authorities. In effect they couldn't tie them to the attack on Rankin although Barbara felt she had rattled Lisa Torte's cage.

Spencer told them all to go home and write up their reports tomorrow when they all felt refreshed. He locked the external drive into his desk drawer along with the 'seizure lists' and decided to head home himself for the comfort of his own bed.

It was nearly 5:30 by the time he walked into the house and the smell of vegetable lasagne made his stomach sing with anticipation. Jo appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Thanks for the call, I put the lasagne in the oven as soon as I knew you were on your way but it'll be another 15 minutes," she called down to him.

After hanging up his warm charcoal overcoat he went up stairs to see what she was doing. Jo wasn't in the bedroom so he went up into the attic room, which she had taken over as a studio workspace. He stood by the door and could see that she was wiping her thick brushes after cleaning off the acrylic paint. To the side was a landscape canvas, he judged it to be around 4 foot high and 5 foot wide, but he knew the view that was taking shape. It was a composition of the 'Whiteoak Canyon' and one of its waterfalls.

"Do you like it?" she asked as she placed the clean brushes in an old blue jug.

"I can sense the movement of the water already," Spencer replied and knew that this was a totally new canvas.

"I started it today and it's really taking shape much faster than I imagined. See how I keep myself totally wrapped up in my work while you're at yours," she said with a grin.

"You only started it today?"

"Mmm but I've been thinking about it as a composition since before Christmas and it really has been painting itself. I thought we could give it to Morgan as a wedding present, especially as we won't be in the country for their wedding, it might make up for being on our belated honeymoon."

"That's very generous of you considering as this is going to appreciate in value," replied Spencer and privately thought that Morgan would probably be having a large and exuberant wedding. Spencer Reid was relieved that he wouldn't have to lie himself out of attending if he was genuinely out of the country."

Suddenly Jo had come over to him and put her arms around his thin waist; his gun dug into her a little as she hugged him.

"Sorry, I ought to take the holster off and…"

"You all right, you look very tired and very far away?" Jo asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, it's not a case I want to talk about but someone we had on remand got stabbed and this case just seems to be getting more complicated by the day," he replied and bent his head a little to smell the rosemary based shampoo she used. It was all very comforting and far away from the murky world of his work. His stomach rumbled and Jo giggled.

"Let's go and see if dinner is ready," she invited and her warm comforting presence broke free and made for the door.

**Tuesday, December 27th.**

The new day brought in more agents. Reid got into the office by 8:45 to find that Danielle had already arrived.

"Barbara told me what happened yesterday and I bumped into Ronald Felton in the car park as I arrived…seems you and Rick spent sometime in his department…"

"Yeah, I had a few ideas and I've got some more connections for you. But unless I can actually prove that the site address for the Tortes Spares Company is not as innocent as it looks, then I'm on a wild goose chase," he replied honestly as he unlocked the draw to his desk to take out the 'seizure lists'.

"I hacked into the Torte customer base and put what I downloaded onto your computer under 'Torte Spares' These are the corresponding identified names on the customer base together with their credit card details, one list under Gerald's material, the other Nigel's…"

Danielle smiled, "I see I'm going to be busy and you have saved me some digging," replied the fellow deputy with a grin of anticipation.

"I've also created a new file with the complete customer data base I hacked into…those names just may turn out to be useful for another time…It's under the file name of 'Torte Christmas'.

"So what are you going to do today?" Danielle asked eyeing the pile of paper in his hand.

"I'm looking for the innocent key to enter the forbidden Torte world," he replied softly, "But it may take me some time…There's a lot of stuff and I've got to find the common denominator."

"Right, so I'll continue trying to identify the last of Nigel's data and then I'll start building up a financial picture of our clientele. Are you going back to Forensic Computing?"

"Only if I find something I want to look at in their evidence vault but I can work through this lot up here until I identify something suspicious. I'll get the men and anyone else who's in, and not working on a specific task, trying to identify the children on some of the child porn DVDs taken from the Rankin operation. Are the men in yet?"

"Not that I've seen but they'll have their reports to write up over yesterday first…By the way, Spencer, when did you get married?"

The CACU was quietly working, although not all the staff had returned to work that day because some had taken part of their holiday entitlement to have a few more days with their families. It was fortunately one of those days when 'follow up' could be pursued without the interruption of a new case. After lunch, Spencer went back to the Computer Forensics department and Ronald stiffened as soon as he saw his tall and skinny frame walk through the doors.

"Dr. Reid," he said mildly but the bespectacled blue eyes flashed, "How can we help you today?"

"I need to view some of the evidence taken from the Rankin clientele and Austin Shields…I've got the evidence ID codes," Reid added helpfully.

"Right, we'd better fill in the forms…" and turned with the young deputy at his heels, "Do you need a work room to view this or do you want to work in the more open area?"

"A private work room please," Reid requested and began to fill in the necessary paper work.

There were more than 20 probable pieces of evidence that Reid wanted to personally check. These were all small portable external hard drives, the place where you might place photographs or a film sequence. The brief descriptions depended on the individual who did the preliminary cataloguing of the remanded prisoners' seized possessions. Usually in these cases, the cataloguing technicians were just looking for porn and anything looking innocent just got a few words to give an indication of content. From one evidence list, Reid wanted to look at 'Holiday in the Fall 2006', but this might not correspond to material another cataloguer had listed as, 'Maine Holiday 2006' and for another it was 'Road trip in the Fall, 2006'. Reid was hoping that the Fall and the year were more than just co-incidence and had selected material that indicated these variables in the brief descriptions provided by the different cataloguers.

It took Ronald and another of his staff 30 minutes to find all the evidence bags he wanted and then there was the strict procedure to follow for the opening and resealing of these. However, once in a room with a computer, Spencer checked all 23 suspect home-movies and photographs, all stored on portable external hard drives and felt a glow of satisfaction when the majority proved to be the same material. He officially noted his findings for a future report and made a copy from Rankin's evidence to take back with him to the deputy's office before the evidence was all replaced back into secure storage.

Ronald Felton was intrigued by the quiet and intense young agent. Dr. Reid seemed very single-minded, like so many of the very talented experts at the complex, but there was something that was also very secretive about his present work. It was the nature of Computer Forensics that some units kept their cards close to their chest and had to do so for very legitimate reasons of safety for their own personnel, but also in case they inadvertently leaked information and an investigation was compromised. Ronald was very discreet and knew not to ask but he sensed that the CACU were deep into a big case and he didn't want to consider the workload that would come his departments way when the investigation finally broke.

Danielle looked up as Reid returned to their office looking very pleased with himself and carrying a small square portable external hard drive in his hand. He had been out of the office for nearly five hours and it was now nearing home time.

"Another piece for the puzzle?"

"I sincerely hope so," replied Reid as he went to his own computer and brought up the Torte site.

"This seems to be a commonly possessed store of photographs and some film of an innocent holiday spent in New England in the Fall 2006. It was on 20 portable hard drives, and all of those external drives were a different make so it was not initially obvious that it might contain the same material. A cataloguer would be working against time, just doing a list, and because it was not obviously porn they probably overlooked it and didn't even register the fact that they might have seen some of the visual images before. But now I've got to see if it helps us go any further." Spencer explained as he concentrated on his machine.

Spencer kept the site on screen and then plugged in the external drive into the USB port. He manipulated the cursor up to the file icon and clicked, scanned down the revealed choices, and clicked again on 'Save As' to activate the external drive. Suddenly the pictures on the site began to fade a little and a new box appeared in the centre of the screen that demanded a 'Password'.

"Spencer," said Danielle's voice purring to his side, "That's not supposed to happen."

"No…I've found the way in but that was the simple bit now comes the real challenge," replied Spencer feeling a glow of satisfaction deep inside him that his idea was bearing some fruit. "Now I've got to find the 'password'. If I was running this site I would personalise it for every user so I could keep tract of who was using my site but also make it more difficult to enter it and reduce the risk of unwanted visitors."

Danielle stretched her legs under her desk and stared at her fellow agent, "You got any ideas?" she asked softly sensing that she was out of depth over the actual breaking of the password but she might understand the theory.

"I don't want to just go all trial and error because I think this whole organisation is very clever and, out of necessity, exclusive. If I just start experimenting then 'central control' may pick up that someone is on to them and everything will just disappear and all that we have done so far will not go any further. No, I really need at least a couple of the 'clientele', who had this 'external key', to supply us with their passwords…Then I could compare and see the common denominator and use it as a clue to the cryptography used. A clue to the steganography being employed will help me prepare my attack. That way, once I'm into the site, I will have a greater chance of hacking their memory banks and getting to the real people behind all of this." Reid replied and wondered if Danielle understood much about encoding material on computers.

"So you're going to look at the clientele we have in custody, specifically those who had this material and lean on the weakest to tell you," Danielle answered her eyes shining at the prospect of making quite a few leaps before Katie returned.

"Yes…but of course it could all take weeks. They know who has been arrested and may even have people keeping an eye on them. The clientele we arrested may have been threatened already to keep quiet. Also anyone we approach for the access password could get it back to the organisers that we're onto them. Afterall, they got at Rankin and that may be a warning to the others arrested with him and it's still unclear why Shields was prepared to risk a murder rap."

"Yes, that's weird isn't it and he's still keeping quiet. You could try Henry Duke, he wasn't arrested in the club raid but I did identify him from the visual evidence and the people behind this organisation don't know we have that," Danielle suggested.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about him, he seems a weak link, even if he was doing the 'it's my first time' act. But I've got to get someone else aswell and I may go and personally see Austin Shields…Being seen by an CACU agent would be feasible for his crime but I could also twist my own knife in a little."

"Spencer!" Danielle exclaimed in surprise at the implied vehemence to his words.

"This is about destroying the lives of children and I'll not give up so easily if I think I can psych something out of an offender… I will use every method open to me within the law." Spencer said in a quiet firm voice and Danielle thought how hard the usually beautiful and sensitive chocolate brown eyes had become as he spoke. It was a common look in this department when its agents were on the scent of a lead. Danielle nodded in understanding; there really wasn't anything to say because they both knew that they had to act with care so as not to tip off others and they had to be firmly within the law or risk losing a case on a technicality.

Spencer yawned.

"Oh don't," said Danielle and then reacted with her own sympathetic response.

"Sorry, you'd never think just looking at numerous 'home movies and photographs' would be so tiring but I need to bury myself in some non-work activity and I need another good night's sleep too…"

The ringing phone halted Reid's sentence as he picked up the receiver.

" CACU, Dr. Spencer Reid speaking," he said all business and Danielle couldn't help the rueful smile that crept across her face. She understood exactly how her fellow deputy felt but any call might send them out again to help a child no matter how tired they might be feeling.

"Yes, I see, when was this?…No, I'm sure everyone did all they could. Thank you for informing us so quickly and yes we will of course want copies of the surgeon's report and of the autopsy. Thank you," Reid replaced the receiver and looked into Danielle's questioning eyes.

"Rankin died about 5 minutes ago, massive organ failure, the hospital think it's due to an infection from the wound," Reid said dully while his mind whirred on considering the consequences. The man had never regained consciousness following his operation and it was now clear that someone had wanted him permanently silenced. He would have to tread carefully in case he put any other 'clientele' in danger with his determination to crack the Torte web site.

"We haven't got the forensics report back on that weapon yet but it was probably contaminated in the hope of an infection. But what matters now is that Austin Shields is facing a murder conviction and he really hasn't got a way out of that as it was all recorded and witnessed." Danielle stated evenly.

"Yeah, I'll tell Roy," Spencer replied as he dialled the number.

"I'll go and tell the rest of the Unit," said Danielle pushing her chair away from her desk. This was going to really subdue the Unit after they had been so upbeat about the raid on Rankin's illegal club. As she walked towards the area where the men tended to group their desks, she wondered how Katie was coping with flu and when she would be back.

Arthur walked briskly along the corridor towards Max's office for the 8:45 meeting they had planned for this first Wednesday after Christmas. As he approached the open door he could see that Don had beaten him to the coffee.

"Morning, Arthur!" Don cheerfully said as he saluted him with his mug of coffee as he sat down on the couch.

Arthur grinned and closed the door and went over to get his own mug to join the other two.

"I won!" he said triumphantly as he poured the black liquid.

"See, I told you he'd gloat!" replied Max to Don.

"So where is the money from our wager destined?" asked Don stretching out his athletic frame a little as if he was feeling some stiffness.

" The Women and Children's Refuge Shelter in Richmond…What have you been up too?" he asked Don as he came to join them.

I was helping Beth move apartment and pulled something in my back…its just a twinge but I had some physio on it yesterday and I'm trying to convince myself that it's a lot better," Don confessed.

"Kids, we never stop helping them do we? Where's all those young men who usually hover round her?" Arthur asked with a smile.

"Gone home for Christmas and Beth wanted to be sorted and settled before the new semester starts."

"Max tells me that you have both seen Reid and the lady recently…I'm jealous, how's he doing and what's she like?" Don grumbled into his coffee.

Max and Arthur laughed.

"Well I finally met her at the College Park Christmas function. She's good for Reid, but…"

"But?" interjected Max wondering what Arthur had picked up that he'd not shared or was he too worried about observing Katie Cole to mention any doubts about Reid's partner.

"Oh…it's nothing serious Max," Arthur re-assured his boss, as he sensed him suddenly alert, and went on to explain, "Jo's an interior designer now you know what my Susan is like...I got dragged round before Christmas looking at furnishings…"

"Which room this time?" asked Max in sympathy.

"The guest I think or was it Daniel's…perhaps both! I just know when she's into 'decorating mode' that the whole cycle of 're-freshing' the house is about to begin again," Arthur said wearily and the other two nodded in sympathy, grateful that their partners were not so enthusiastic about décor in the way that it governed Susan's life.

"Don't feel left out Don. They were at my home the evening before they married and gave no indication of their plans!" Max said sipping his coffee. "Jo looks like her father and has the social gifts of her mother. She balances Spencer and it's wonderful to see just how steady and confident he is these days. Together they make an entertaining couple and my other guests want to meet them again."

"So Spencer's coping away from the BAU?" asked Don who had not seen the agent to speak to since Gideon was placed into his care after the New Orleans case.

"Fortunately Jo was already there as his live-in partner by the time Gideon left without warning. She is an anchor that is fixed into the solid stable ground of the Petersen family. The Petersens' have had their own trials over the years but they are a very strong family that comes together to help one another. I know that Judge Petersen thinks highly of the genius and Margaret spoils him with her own maternal love. He now has the very thing he needed…a stable family that gives him support rather than him feeling guilty about his mother and regretting not having the closure with his father. As far as the Petersens' are concerned he's one of them now so Spencer Reid has finally got his loving family around him." Max explained.

"You know the Petersens," stated Don and wondered how long and if he had known about Jo from the beginning of Spencer's relationship with her.

"I socially know Alan and Margaret Petersen, I do not personally know the son and his family and I'd not met the daughter until she came to my home. Alan did ask my advice when she was experiencing PTSD after being attacked in New York, and I recommended someone, but she is well over that now. She has a scarred and deformed hand from that time but her personality is warm and there's a side that hints at fun. But also, she's not in Reid's shadow…she has her own confidence in the work she does."

"You'd like her, Don," Arthur assured, "Jo's very easy to talk to and there was not a woman in that room that didn't know that she was Reid's partner and hands off!"

"Ah!" exclaimed Don with a grin.

"Oh I'd not like to get the wrong side of her…It's the Italian in her blood!" Arthur confided, "She's got these really dark eyes, they're bewitching…Spencer definitely fell under her spell but it's done him good."

"Here speaks the relationship expert!" Max laughed.

"I was right about the marriage!" Arthur snapped back.

"We're not going to be allowed to forget this," Don said to Max but they were both chuckling and each man was pleased at the outcome for the talented genius who had such a troubled background.

Arthur continued his assessment, "Reid's well thought of at College Park and he has stepped in to the deputy role really well. There has not been the friction that some younger agents might have created because he's been prepared to listen to the agents around him and thank them for their advice when given. Getting him out of the BAU will be the making of Reid, just like when he was on those 'group dynamics' courses. He mixed well in those professional situations because he could use his knowledge as a shield. But now he has Jo and she has given him the emotional confidence he needed. I hope you see him for yourself soon because he has grown so much, he's no longer hiding behind a string of facts is he Max?"

"Goodness, no. Spencer is still a genius but he doesn't need to play the geek. He's definitely emotionally confident these days so there is no need to hide behind the fortress of facts. I suspect that he actually enjoys wearing a wedding ring," Max answered smiling and thinking that Spencer would be one of those men to use the ring as a signal to any female predator to keep well away. It was also a sign to everyone else that he had a serious relationship and was proud of the fact.

"He can still put the geekiness on when he wants to you know, to diffuse a situation or lighten one to relax a group. But seeing Dr. Spencer Reid, with his new hair style and the confident way he strides into the CACU department, he's every inch the deputy of the Unit and he commands respect," continued Arthur warmly, "I was really impressed when I first saw him. Adam Priest told me straight away how Spencer had made the effort to be open with the Unit and it all helped him to fit in quickly. You know Jo joined him there the first day so everyone could meet her. Katie Cole was very impressed with that because it showed everyone that he had someone to go home to and she was prepared to stand up beside him. I doubt anyone will be surprised at College Park about the marriage."

Max smiled, "I told Katie when I saw her and she was pleased for them but not surprised. It was a typical Spencer move though…I wonder how long it took him to pluck up the courage to ask her?" Max mused aloud.

"Oh I'm not going there. I went through enough angst myself," Arthur confessed and Max smiled warmly at the portly psychologist who had a big heart and an unquestioning love for his beloved Susan.

"Yeah," agreed Don thoughtfully, "We're all fortunate to have priceless treasures as our wives."

"Yes, so we are…How is Debbie these days?" Arthur asked his colleague.

"She's still taking things slower than she used to but Debbie was just trying to do too many things, like she used to do before we had the girls, and it was just nature's way of saying whoa! Debbie now only works one day at the hospital and she has joined a pottery class and a reading circle. She has persuaded another of the neighbours to join her swimming at the local pool a couple of times a week and overall she's looking good. The doctors are pleased with her and very impressed with her recovery and the changes she has made to her routines. We're thinking of getting a rescue dog to take walking with us at weekends but that will mean that she'll have to take it walking everyday aswell! I've missed not having a dog around but the girls used to help with old Hero's daily walks when they were at school."

"You don't fancy a puppy then?" asked Arthur with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Don's home was immaculate especially now the children were grown up and not living at home.

"No, they have some really well trained mutts at the rescue centres. Some people abandon dogs when a relationship breaks, or they move and its no pets…so they don't all come their way because the owner has died."

"Yeah, my neighbour got a two year old beagle from the centre near Bethesda Hospital. The owners couldn't afford to feed it once they had a child and just wanted it to go to a good home."

"At least they didn't just leave it out on the highway," said Max picking up the file for the first case he wanted to discuss that morning. The other two men immediately became professionally alert.

"Now Katie Cole is responding very well to the programme at Lavinia House but we have to think about her long term future," said Max quietly.

"She's been a long time at the CACU," said Arthur softly, "Whatever is decided mustn't look as if she's being punished for her run in with the bottle."

"I agree, but she can't stay there forever and preferably I would like her to be moved by next Christmas, if not sooner," replied Max.

"She has excellent managerial skills and is very good at choosing the right people to take on a task." Don added.

"Yes, I think we have to keep our eyes open to see if she can be placed in position as an assistant in running a Field Office. We can still have her in for a while lecturing on her expertise with CACU work," suggested Max watching the other two men for their reactions.

"I would think that she would like to remain in the Washington area so she would be in easy reach of her brother and his family," Arthur reminded his superior.

"Good point, but do either of you have any suggestions?"

"These cut backs have affected the whole organisation and there is really no movement…People near retirement either went of their own accord or were pushed so I can't think of anything at the moment." Don replied.

"I know its difficult but the present situation is going to make a few of the senior 'managerial' agents think about the pressures they are under and think that taking retirement might be preferable than struggling on with the cutbacks. So I want you to keep your eyes and ears open to see if we can make an opening for Katie, and preferably one that takes her away from children, but isn't a backwater because she has very good people skills. Danielle is in the running to take over the CACU but her pregnancy affects the timing of all of this.

Now let's think about Louis Drayton, he's under a lot of pressure at the moment having lost his very competent deputy..." said Max changing the subject smoothly.

Meanwhile at 9:30 on a bright but chilly morning, Aaron Hotchner walked through the main entrance of the College Park Complex and took the elevator to Adam Priest's office. It was the first of his contact visits to see how Field Offices were coping with the first weeks of the cutbacks. Hotch was feeling pleased that his colleagues had given him the Maryland, Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey areas to cover. He also had to visit the Baltimore office today but he thought that he'd go there in the afternoon. Hotch had to admit that he was enjoying aspects of his present role at the Washington office. It meant he was usually working reasonable hours and he was enjoying seeing Jack and Hayley more. Hayley was very excited about Louise's pregnancy and it was the only dark cloud at the back of Hotch's mind; he prayed that Louise would keep her word.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped out into the bright corridor and the reception area for access to the Agent in Charge.

Three hours later, after a very detailed briefing and having personally spoken to the staff whose units had been affected, Hotch headed to the CACU. He had told Adam Priest that he'd like to have lunch with Reid and congratulate him personally on his marriage.

"Hello, can I help you, sir?" Dee cheerfully beamed at the neatly dressed, handsome and powerful presence before her. She saw his displayed ID but couldn't quite read the small print and thought that she really had to get her eyes tested in the New Year. However, Dee noted his wedding ring and instinctively knew that this was a happily married man who wouldn't like her flirting with him.

Aaron Hotchner gave her a warm smile, "My name is Aaron Hotchner and I'm with the Director's Special Task Team but I'm also the former boss of Dr. Reid and I want to surprise him," he confided in a soft voice that captured Dee's whole attention.

Dee beamed and gave her opinion on the new deputy, "Oh, we just adore him here, he sneakily got married on Christmas Eve you know…Did he do sneaky things like that when at the BAU?" Dee asked conspiratorially.

Hotch grinned, "Oh Reid always played his cards close to his chest but then he's a demon poker player and tried to keep his private life private in the BAU. It used to drive his colleagues insane…"

"So he hasn't changed for us then! Well actually that's not true because we met Jo on the first afternoon he arrived…Jo's got that natural style, gets along with anyone…"

"Hotch!" A familiar voice broke into the conversation at the reception desk and the older man turned and saw the slender figure striding towards him. He still dressed in 'Reid' fashions and colours. Today Spencer Reid was clad in brown cords, a fern green wool 'v necked' sweater and a pewter grey and charcoal tiny checked shirt. The loosely knotted tie was a plain bottle green silk but Hotch thought that Reid's ties had more of an expensive look about them these days. He certainly looked well, the hair was a neat length at the back but it had been carefully styled at the front and sides to make the most of his natural waves and thick silky texture of the hair.

What really surprised Hotch was the fact that Reid approached him with a huge grin of welcome and a natural ease, this was a man who knew his place in this department. It was the way Reid confidently carried himself; another new agent would have instantly known this was someone in a position of importance. 'Yes, that was it,' Hotch thought to himself. Reid now had that air of authority about him and Hotch felt some pride in how this agent had stepped into this position. It was only a matter of weeks since the break up of the team but Hotch was now looking at a deputy, not a junior agent, and he liked what he was seeing. At the back of Hotch's mind he registered that Max Pentall had been right all along about this genius. He had to spend sometime away from the BAU to really reach his true potential and under Gideon he would not have achieved that, nor with his former colleagues who viewed him as the baby of the group.

"How are you? Are you here working?" Reid asked as he grasped Hotchner's tentatively out-stretched hand into a warm handshake. Hotch smiled and thought back to how often Reid would avoid shaking hands but he had noticed that at this Field Office it was the normal greeting.

"Good, Washington is keeping me busy with meetings and networking and now I'm allowed out for the first time on the periodical fact finding visits."

"But the CACU didn't suffer from the cuts," replied Spencer wondering why Hotch had come to this department.

"I know but I thought I could persuade you to have lunch with me before I leave for the Baltimore office."

"Sure, that'll be good. Does Josh Kramer know you're heading his way?"

"No, I'll just turn up for an informal chat," Hotch replied and sensed something more here, "Do you see Kramer a lot?"

"We both live in Berwyn Heights and Jo gets on well with Shelley…Josh and I have that unspoken agreement of never talking about the job off duty. I think its good for Jo to feel she can chat with another agent's partner…you know the mutual moan over the coffee…" he replied with twinkling eyes. "Come and meet Danielle who's the real deputy around here. Katie's on sick leave at the moment with a bout of that awful flu that's around."

Spencer turned and led the way into the deputy's office to make the introductions.

Two hours later Hotch was driving towards Baltimore and he couldn't stop the smile of satisfaction that formed on his face. It was good to be out of Washington and it was even better to see Reid again. He had always liked working with the agent and seeing him once more renewed that feeling of the unspoken trust between them. Hotch thought that he'd probably have a fight on his hands to get Reid back to the BAU because the agent was certainly getting a reputation on his own merits and that meant more departments would put feelers out for him. Perhaps he would turn to academia because his book was being well received by the experts in the field. Reid had told him over lunch that he'd received several invites to give guest lectures at five prestigious universities with courses in criminal psychology. He had a provisional date for a visit to Cambridge, in England, because they were having a belated honeymoon in that country in April. Above all, Hotchner was pleased that a date for a Sunday lunch had been set for the end of January because he had a feeling that once Katie was back that part of Reid's free time would be spent giving lectures. It would be good for him and the FBI, of course, because it publicised the work of the specialised unit at Quantico.

After Hotch had left, Spencer continued his background searches into the past of Henry Duke and the other men identified as Rankin's clientele. Danielle and he were in agreement that Duke was a likely candidate to lean on but they needed to check to see if there was another weak link before tackling Shields. They both agreed to stay firm to their original tactic with Austin Shields. They had let the police inform him of the murder charge but Shields was stubbornly maintaining his silence on the matter. Meanwhile, the CACU had decided to let him stew until the coming Friday when Spencer would go with Carl to interview the oddly silent prisoner.

Duke was being held at a different holding facility and again the authorities reported that he had been a model prisoner but, unlike Shields, he had so far no visitors. It appeared that the girl friend had distanced herself immediately he was arrested and his family didn't want to be tainted by his behaviour either.

Spencer just wanted the clientele's password so he could analyse it to give him the necessary clues as to what kind of steganography to expect once he tried to hack further into the secret site. After his first doctorate, he had been approached to see if he was interested in joining a specialist group within National Security concerned with cryptography and the wider issues of steganography, but he had followed his interest in Physics not wanting to make such a far reaching decision so young. He had never told Garcia just how 'computer' proficient he was because he respected her wonderful abilities and didn't want his gentle friend to feel in his shadow, particularly after she had tried to hack into his personal medical record. Reid missed his colourful friend and was humbled by the message that she had sent him following his Christmas announcement. Jo said that they just had to invite her over one weekend but with Katie out of things at the moment it was difficult to make a firm date. He had sent Garcia an e-mail saying that they would like both she and J.J. to come for a meal and hoped that once into the New Year they would be able to have more idea of the workload and timetables to fit this in.

Meanwhile, back in Quantico, Agent Jennifer Jareau was summoned to Erin Strauss's office immediately after lunch. The young agent was not a great fan of the Section Chief, especially after Strauss's behaviour towards her in Milwaukee, but this was an order and the agent went smartly along to the woman's office. They had not actually seen much of Strauss in the BAU since the financial cuts as she seemed to be content to leave the day to day running of the unit to Barry. The BAU was universally relieved over this because the people respected Barry's quiet managerial skills and J.J. even more so since Hotch had been re-assigned. Barry and Morgan didn't hit it off but the older man had pulled Morgan into line, although no one knew what he had said to the agent behind the closed door of his office in early December, but it had certainly improved the atmosphere. They all knew that Morgan could be a pain when he was kept too long indoors but they all had to just get on with the work until the cloud they were all under was lifted.

Jareau entered the spacious office and sat in the seat offered before the older woman's desk. J.J. thought how much Strauss seemed to have aged since the changes had been implemented. All the senior personnel had more responsibilities since the cuts although the junior personnel all thought the cuts just acutely affected their own work load. However, as J.J. now observed her Section Head she could see that there were even more lines to the face than she had seen at the Christmas social event. To this agent's eyes, Strauss looked very tired; the make up couldn't quite hide all the darkness under her eyes. Looking at her fellow blond, the younger woman even thought that the grey hairs were just beginning to show through more aswell and the way that Erin Strauss carried herself these days was even more telling to the trained observer. The older woman's shoulders were more slumped and the head held less high despite her usual haughty look at underlings who crossed her path. Jareau's overall assessment of this senior agent was that since the cuts Erin Strauss looked weighed down by her work.

Erin Strauss smiled at the young blond, but J.J. didn't find it friendly because the eyes maintained their cold scrutiny of her. Jareau refused to feel intimidated by this woman and looked her steadily in the eyes.

"Agent Jareau, you are being wasted here at the moment. The Bureau has had an urgent request to find a suitably experienced agent to fill a post in San Francisco that has suddenly been vacated by an accident. It is only a temporary position so this is in effect a secondment until the agent returns to duty…"

Jareau was puzzled and wondered whose post she was going to be covering.

Strauss watched the poised young blond and thought her perfect for the position but smiled at the puzzlement that was in her eyes.

"Gavin Brinkley has had an automobile accident and smashed both his legs and punctured a lung. You will be in California for at least a few months but we have an apartment ready for you and you will be expected to start as soon as possible," Strauss continued and was pleased to see the eyes widen in surprise.

"We believe that you are capable of filling in at short notice, as you're probably aware, Brinkley was the media spokesman for the Organised Crime Division. It's a post that needs someone with a good knowledge of how to handle the media and not reveal too much about cases. The media on the West Coast are very vocal about some of the cases this particular Division has dealt with because they have recently touch upon drugs and the money laundering aspects of the crimes. It can get nasty because of the elimination of people, but your experience with the BAU should prepare you for that side of things," Strauss continued with an emotionless voice as if she was giving a lecture and Jareau thought how detached her superior sounded as she said the words. Suddenly the younger woman thought that sending Hotchner away was a deliberate ploy, by upper management, to eventually get rid of this irritating woman.

"When would I report for duty?" Jareau asked in her quiet but firm voice, hoping to give the impression that she was more than capable of doing the task handed to her.

"Tomorrow morning. Here is your plane ticket; your plane leaves tonight at 18:15. As I said a furnished apartment has already been found for you, it's 'safe' …Now where is the address I wrote down?" Strauss said and looked amongst the papers on her desk for the information. "You will be met at the airport on your arrival and you'll be taken to the apartment and collected the next day for work and the necessary briefing. The agent who meets you will answer any questions you're bound to have. Don't worry, agents dropped in like this are usually well looked after and they'll even provide you with a car…All you have to do, is do your job well. Any questions?"

"I will be leaving immediately?" J.J. tried to sound calm but this had come out of the blue and there was relief that she had no boyfriend commitments at that moment.

"I think you might like to just to pack a few things," Strauss replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

J.J. was annoyed with herself for giving this woman such an opening, "Of course, and to say a few goodbyes on the way out."

"Good," replied Strauss rising and proffering the airline ticket and paper with her new address on.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Jareau said crisply.

"See you in a few months," Strauss said as she turned to leave.

Jennifer Jareau walked back down the long corridor towards the BAU and went over the conversation once more. Well at least she was not going to seed but Morgan would probably be peeved that she was going somewhere different even if it was an emergency secondment. As she passed through the BAU doors she turned immediately towards Garcia's domain. She had to tell Penny where she was headed.

Danielle waited patiently as the fax printed out. She read the report and sighed, none of it surprised her but she hoped that Spencer was going to have more luck with his endeavours.

End of Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12

**The Interregnum: Chapter 12**

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Carl and Spencer arrived at the Baltimore Holding Facility at 9:30 a.m. The prison authorities were expecting them and both men sensed the chastened air amongst the staff as they were taken through the corridors to the interview room. As soon as they had entered the building their senses were assaulted by a different world. They had left the bright chill of a winter morning for the warm clinging air that smelt of stale urine and sweat. It was far worse in the larger prisons but both men were use to the culture and odours of these establishments because it all went with the job.

"Is Shields still refusing to talk?" Carl asked the greying guard.

"Yes sir, he has also refused to even talk to the lawyer who was appointed to him after the original charge and didn't want him here today."

Spencer listened but had decided at first to quietly slip into the background, letting the prisoner assume that the older man was the senior agent. They entered the room and sat at the table to wait for Shields but he was brought almost immediately and was in chains. Carl glanced across at Reid as the man sat down and the chains secured.

"The Director here doesn't want to take chances after his previous unprovoked attack," the smaller of the two guards explained and then they left.

"I am Agent Carl Miyake from the Crimes Against Children Unit and this is my colleague, Dr. Spencer Reid. We are here to listen to anything that you might like to tell us about your alleged crime against two boys and the murder of Brian Rankin."

Austin Shields sat impassive; staring at a spot above them as if he'd not heard a word. After a few minutes the prisoner lowered his gaze but his studied distant demeanour did not change.

The three men eyed each other calmly and Spencer Reid thought that, with the serene Carl and himself, it could be an interesting few hours to see who could calmly out psych who with the heavy brooding silence that surrounded Shields. It gave Spencer the opportunity to observe the man in minute detail from the large head, set on strong broad shoulders, with a thick neck that revealed the tension of its owner by the pulsating veins to the side. The standard prison uniform with its bright orange colour only emphasised the muscular bulk of the man, who now held his large handcuffed hands together just resting on the edge of the table top that separated him from the two agents. Spencer and Carl had agreed on the strategy during the drive there; both would keep staring at Shields but remain silent once Carl had done the statutory introduction.

The first hour of silence passed quite quickly. Carl was a man who made the most of his task; if this prisoner was not going to talk then he'd just reply in the same manner and let his inner mind work upon another case. Carl was still haunted by the failure to identify Vikki; the young girl who had died, but seemed to have slipped through the social net of anyone ever reporting her missing. News programmes in the Washington area had broadcast Vikki's hospital photographs and when that got no response other broadcasters had picked up on the story in the New York and California. However, despite all this media help, there had been no public response. Amanda and Melanie had sent Vikki's picture to 'missing persons' units in Central and South America but so far there had only been silence.

Spencer was quite content to let his own mind wander over the facts of the present case and the task of breaking into the Torte site. He didn't mind if they sat here all day because he enjoyed the quiet Carl at his side and that was why he had chosen him for this visit. Reid gambled that Carl's Japanese ancestry would unsettle Shields. The prisoner was playing a role but to Carl the serenity of the moment was naturally at his core. Carl Miyake was a quiet agent but was swift to act decisively when needed. He had no ambition to rise in the ranks to some managerial post because he disliked the politics at the higher levels. The day to day work was far more interesting to Carl and his CACU colleagues appreciated this agent's quiet stability.

Spencer's mind roamed over various ideas for breaking the code of the Torte site. He found the whole experience in this silent room satisfying because he knew that he had the upper hand with this prisoner and just had to judge the time right to act.

Austin Shields was perplexed, the police and the other CACU agent had tried to provoke a reaction from him but these two men were seriously unsettling his control of the situation. The older one maintained a placid and unreadable expression, it seemed to Shields that even the man's breathing had retreated to the barest minimum. Shields had never seen such calmness totally take-over a person before and he found that disturbing.

The prisoner turned his attention onto the younger man. He had been introduced as a Dr. and Shields thought that rather odd. He looked terribly young and very skinny; even the empty gun holster didn't look right on the man. Shields concentrated on the tan coloured holster and noted that it was worn more to the front, rather than to the side of his waist, but perhaps that was because the bulky holster kept getting in the way of his long stick like arms. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'that was it, the younger one was like a stick man the kids drew when they first went to school with big round eyes and lots of hair. He certainly was so lean that the eyes looked very large and the cheekbones were prominent, like those fashion photographs in the magazines…The male models all looked emaciated to his eyes and this agent would probably blow away in a gust of wind. He couldn't stop a smile creeping across his face at the picture he was now imagining. The man opposite raised a bemused eyebrow but said nothing.

Shields' eyes dropped to the man's long slender fingers and noted that he wore a broad gold wedding ring. He looked across to his colleague and saw that the agent was also married and wondered if they both had children and what their partners were like. Perhaps this oriental looking one had an exotic wife to go with his fancy name. As for the skinny one, he was tall but so thin, the opposite of his partner who was broad backed and he sensed a physical strength in his frame. The tall thin one intrigued him, perhaps he had an equally tall waif-like wife and they were both tossed about by the wind. Their children would be like the fluff of dandelion seeds, blown hither and yon by the breeze….

Carl was fascinated by the expressions on the prisoner's face, he was obviously amused by something but he seemed to make no move to share whatever was in his mind at that moment. But Carl had noticed how Shields had observed both himself and Reid and the scrutiny had been quite intense although Carl tried to remain impassive. Carl knew that Reid had hardly moved despite the fact that the interview room chairs were now distinctly uncomfortable and there was a numbness beginning to settle in his backside, despite regularly scrunching up his toes and flexing his feet and circling them from his ankle joint. However, the upper part of his body remained still and he wondered if the prisoner had even sensed what was happening under the table with his feet in an attempt to keep his circulation running.

Shields noticed the time on the older man's watch; they had been in this room together for over two hours. The sounds of the prison seemed to get even louder as the silenced continued to dance around them. The prison routines continued beyond the immediate walls and Shields recognised the smell of minced beef with onions and gravy as it began to seep its way from the kitchens, along with the distant clatter of large kitchen pans and the voices of the kitchen workers. He couldn't hear their exact words just the general buzz of busy voices and the upbeat of the camaraderie that the inmates could usually hear from their cell windows if they opened the vents. Shields wondered if they would remain here after lunch because they didn't seem to be making any effort to move or talk to him. Lunch for the isolation unit was at 1:30 so he had some time yet before he'd be able to get away from these two freaks before him.

The silence continued and Shields fidgeted as the lack of movement began to take its toll on his big frame. He had to grudgingly admire the two men opposite as they seemed to be as stoically immobile as when they first arrived and Shield's wondered if it was something that they had learnt in the FBI. Perhaps they were made to sit for hours on hard wooden chairs or had to listen to lectures on hard seats and were failed if they moved or showed the slightest sign of boredom. The absurdity it of it all caught up with him and he noticed that the older one's watch now said 12:16 but then the panic began to set in.

Perhaps, Shields mused, they were really just going to sit here all day, and then two more agents would come and sit with him. He chided himself, 'No, there were strict rules and prisoners had rights to their meals and time to go to the toilet but these were the FBI and perhaps they were allowed to do things differently. Perhaps he ought to have that lawyer after all? But that would tell them that you have something to say,' his inner self argued… 'But they have left you here and have they helped…just because they have money they think themselves untouchable…They have promised good money but would it be waiting for him when he'd served his sentence?'

Spencer watched and noted that the prisoner was looking more agitated. During the past hour particularly he had seen increased facial twitches, smiles and darting eye movements and now the eyes showed indecision, even momentary fear. He had spent his time refusing to speak since Rankin's death, even only responding to direct questions from his guards with a nod or shake of the head. The prisoner had been switching his gaze between the agents trying to weigh up who was the weaker of the two and trying to understand their tactics. They were deliberately taking their time and Spencer had told Danielle that they would be turning their cell phones off because this was to be a combined effort of breaking this man's self imposed wall of non-communication. Spencer knew that Shields's tactic would ultimately fail, all that was needed was patience and the air of unhurried calmness. The police, and even Rick, had tried to get an explanation for the attack but Shields himself felt that silence would be his friend because that way he wouldn't betray anything he shouldn't.

Shields's mind began to run out of control, he desperately tried to calm the warring inner voices that were arguing inside his head. Could he trust the others to keep their word? Could he trust these people? Was he safe in this prison…a message had been got to him to get rid of Rankin. He might be considered dangerous next and it could happen to him. Who could he really trust?

The questions kept chasing around in his head, perpetually asking the same things with no firm answers, 'Sure there had been promises but who could he really trust? Even Gary had kept away since Rankin was put into hospital and now this murder rap…He had done it for them but could he even trust Gary?'

Shields felt his heart begin to race. He felt faintly sick and he began to feel uncomfortable as his temperature began to increase. But above all, the questions kept pounding in his head and he just didn't have the certainty of answers anymore….

"I need a lawyer but…" the prisoner suddenly blurted out and the two men opposite stared into eyes that showed the primeval fear of the cornered animal.

"But you don't know who you can trust any more?" said Dr. Spencer Reid gently, his soft voice soothing the turmoil of the prisoner's doubts.

"You want a different lawyer to the one originally assigned?" Carl asked in an equally soft soothing manner.

Austin Shields stared and nodded and felt like he was crumbling before these two men. They spoke so softly that their voices seemed to caress the quietness of the interview room.

"That can be arranged," Carl assured, "Although another lawyer might not be able to get here before lunch now."

"I want someone I can trust, I don't trust anyone anymore," he repeated in a small voice that seemed incongruous for such an imposing physically large figure.

"You have reasons for not trusting your assigned lawyer?" Reid asked watching his reaction and thought the eyes flashed uncertainty.

"I don't trust him, he's one of them?"

"One of them?" asked Reid wondering if this man was showing signs of mental instability.

"The syndicate...the people Rankin worked for…I'd seen him at the other meetings," Shields replied his voice barely a whisper beside the agents' soft voices.

"We can have you moved from here if that will make you feel safer, but you will have to agree to help us for such protection," said Reid and the prisoner looked into his eyes with both fear and hope.

"Words just words, how do I know you will keep me safe?" Shields challenged.

"Well, we could have you given another identity within the prison system and placed in a different state under special guard. But you would have to make such measures worthwhile to us...you still face a murder charge and a charge of child sex abuse…but at least you would stand a better chance of making it to your trial. Of course, if you renege, and don't co-operate, then it would be very simple to make it known where you were," said Reid calmly and Carl thought that this was a formidable agent beside him despite his unthreatening appearance to the world.

Austin Shields stared at the two agents and felt his world shrink even more before him. He instinctively knew that his life depended on these two who had spent nearly 3 silent hours with him.

"Where could I be sent that was safe? The Washington area is well known to these people, they would find me," he whispered his fears.

"You would have to trust us. But if you want another lawyer while here then they will also come out of the same 'pool' and we have no guarantee that they are trust worthy," Reid explained and the prisoner thought his words sounded so tantalisingly reasonable.

"What do you need to know?" the prisoner asked tentatively trying out the waters that were stretching invitingly before him.

"Everything that you know about the syndicate," Spencer stated quietly his eyes never leaving the prisoner's face.

"I wasn't in deep, I just did some clearing up and I don't want those raps added to my sheet,"

Spencer stared and knew that he didn't have the authority to bargain such legal matters. But they had not yet had the all clear on Roy although he wanted to think that Roy was clean and it was the rogue in the Washington Office that was the problem.

"I can't personally comment on such things, but to show good faith I need something from you if we are going to get you moved," Spencer said and the prisoner looked hard at him trying to figure out his intentions.

"I have to make a good case for you with my superiors and the legal team behind this case," the younger agent continued.

Shields gave him a shrewd look and Carl knew that he was weighing up the situation.

"What are you really asking for…as an act of 'good faith'?" the prisoner mocked.

"I want your password for the Torte site," replied Spencer smoothly and was satisfied to see a look of surprise on Shields's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shields responded immediately.

"I know you do because I have your external hard drive with the material from New England, 2006, on it. We both know that it needs to be plugged into the Torte site and you then need a password to go any further."

"It won't do you much good, they're all different," he answered.

"That's my problem," Spencer smoothly replied, "But I have to have something to prove that you really are going to co-operate and protecting you is going to be worthwhile to us."

Austin Shields sat quietly weighing up the situation he was in. These two men had not been like the others. Deep down he knew that if he wanted to live then he had to make a pact with a devil that just might be big enough to handle the syndicate.

The two agents sat calmly observing the prisoner who sat in silence for a few more minutes before nodding his head.

"You got some paper?" he finally asked.

Reid reached into his inner jacket pocket and brought out a notebook. He found a clean page and handed it to the handcuffed man and placed the pen between his fingers. Shields began to write down a memorised sequence of what appeared to be random numbers and letters, some upper case. There were 16 characters in all. When he had finished he flicked the ballpoint pen out of his hand.

"You'll get no more from me until I feel I've been taken somewhere safe," Shields firmly said.

Spencer Reid pushed back his chair, and rose, "Agent Miyake and I will have to see if we can make some arrangements."

Carl got up feeling a bit stiff but it had been a fascinating morning watching the temporary deputy scare a man without raising his voice. Carl Miyake could appreciate that and thought that Dr. Spencer Reid was a person you needed on your side of the fence.

The two agents returned to their car in silence because they had not wanted any of their conversations over heard in the prison.

"Are we going to go on to see Duke while you're on a roll?" Carl asked getting into the driving seat.

"No, I need to talk to Danielle and we have to tread very carefully. Shields said that he didn't trust his lawyer and that implies that the Public Defenders Office is now suspect and needs careful screening. We have assumed that it was Gary Shields who gave his brother his orders but what if it was his lawyer?"

"Shit! Lawyer-client privilege. So now we have to do some in-depth research into the Maryland Public Defenders Office…Robert's going to really like us!"

"Exactly, and we don't know if the 'prosecutors' are untainted either…" the soft voice said from the passenger seat.

"Hey, we have to trust our Roy and his team though!" Carl replied.

"I hope we can but lets keep this quiet for the moment," Reid said evenly.

"Look, you're beginning to sound a little paranoid here, Spencer. I've worked with Roy and Andrea a good decade, even before being assigned here and I'd trust Roy with my life," Carl answered wondering if the young deputy was letting his creative mind run away from reality.

"Carl, I'm asking you not to say anything about our session with Shields, like we agreed, on the journey this morning. There are things I can't discuss with you at the moment but Danielle and I are uncovering possible connections that touch upon people in influential positions," the younger agent carefully said.

"You mean…within the Bureau itself and that's why we've lost out on several cases in the recent past?"

Reid sighed, so others in the office had picked up on that thread and Spencer wondered how many and if it was widely discussed outside the unit, but decided to keep things understated and answered,

"Something like that, but if they find out that we're on to them then it's likely the syndicate will just shut down and disappear and we'll not be able to break it."

Carl nodded as he concentrated on the road junction ahead but once he'd turned left he said,

"Tony and I have suspected that there is someone in the Washington Office because all our big cases go through their legal department. We even did our own check on Roy and Andrea earlier this year but we found they were both clean…We even had Robert hack into their bank accounts."

"Did Katie know?" asked Spencer sensing that Carl was showing a great deal of trust in him.

"No, because we even checked Katie out too!" he confessed, "We found nothing to cause concern with the College Park people we usually deal with. We concluded that it had to be someone higher than Roy because Roy has to go to Washington if we want something out of the ordinary, like you want for Shields."

"Have you checked me out?" Spencer asked mildly but he wanted to know just how far this trio had gone to make sure that the unit was sound.

"Of course we did. It's your wife who has the nice little earner as the artist but the IRS seem to think she's honest about declaring her earnings and she always plays her taxes…"

"I'm glad to hear it and I'm sure that Judge Petersen would be relieved to know that his daughter passed your scrutiny," replied Reid with a hint of humour in his voice.

"I trust you three not to broadcast her artistic endeavours as she likes her privacy. I really can't say that I would defend you if she found out because I'd take cover from her Italian temper, which the family assures me she has inherited from her granny!"

"Why Dr. Reid, you have faced some very violent and psychologically sick people in your line of work…now are you telling me that you're afraid of your wife's temper?" asked Carl with a grin.

"Yes," she's not to be under-estimated my Jo!"

"Mmm…" said Carl thoughtfully and wondered where Spencer and Danielle would be going next with this complex case.

They went and got some rolls from the cafeteria for lunch before returning to the office. Carl was true to his word and didn't say anything to the others when they asked how things went. Tony was not in the office, as he had to give evidence in court that day for a case that they had dealt with some 6 months before.

Spencer told Danielle all that had happened including the details about the conversation with Carl on the way back.

"Well it doesn't surprise me they are two experienced agents and both are very loyal to the Bureau. If they had found out something about anyone in the team…and that includes me or Katie, they would have taken it to the Director!"

"Probably, but they know something isn't right and they sensed it's one of Roy's superiors. But they had got no where because digging at the Washington Office might have been picked up because Robert warned them about the extra layers of security that they have there for the managerial levels."

"Yeah, but at least they checked us out and I trust them on their findings…But they never told Katie?"

"No, and then they heard I was coming and they wanted to check me and then there was Jo…we passed!"

"Glad to hear it!" she grinned but then became serious again, "We can't take this through the legal department. I'll ring the Director and see how he wants to handle it."

Danielle reached for her phone and began to dial. Spencer turned to his ham with soft cheese and chives roll and took a bite. It had been quite an unusual but satisfying morning. He sat back on his chair and savoured his lunch, tuning out Danielle's conversation, and began to think about the password Shields had written for him. He further decided that he and Carl would go and see Duke tomorrow morning but he should be a pushover compared with Shields. However, he needed Duke's lawyer to be checked out by Robert that afternoon.

"Spencer!" Danielle commanded his attention.

"The Director wants to see you at the Washington Office this afternoon at 3 o'clock. Just go straight up to his office and you'll be expected and he hopes to have made some arrangements by then."

"Right, I'll take the train it'll be quicker than trying to drive into the Washington traffic and then trying to find somewhere to park," he said and looked once more at the page he had now torn from his notepad.

"This maybe what we need or Shields maybe playing his own game. I'm not sure that I trust him yet," Spencer quietly informed his fellow deputy, "He seemed to give this up a little too easily for my liking so I think I'll just pretend I've lost it for a while," Spencer said placing the paper into an evidence bag and marking the label. He then put the bag into their office safe and closed the door.

"One thing that Shields did say was that he'd done the clearing up…I think that may mean that he has been disposing of the bodies," Reid said quietly.

Danielle shrewdly looked at him and knew that he was talking about the Philadelphia set up. Michael Wells had not treated his girls as well as Rankin and they had thought that he'd just disposed of them permanently when they had outgrown their use.

"Jeez…I think we are going to be very busy in the New Year," remarked Danielle and thought that she felt her baby kick for the first time or was it just an illusion because she wanted something to feel good about today.

Spencer Reid was not accustomed to personal interviews with the Director but he thought that he had held his professionalism in place and felt remarkably pleased with himself. He now sat on the train heading back towards College Park, a very short journey, but the afternoon had shown progress. He now had more things to tell Danielle which the Director preferred to say in his office rather than on a telephone despite the fact that it was a secure line. Reid thought about the Washington session and felt that the Director had wanted to personally see him because he needed to judge the situation for himself and had asked searching questions of the agent.

After a short drive from the station, Reid was soon back in the office and Danielle looked up from her task. He closed the door and sat nursing his red mug brimming with hot coffee.

"Didn't the great man give you coffee?" she asked eyeing his familiar mug.

"Yeah but this is my one vice!" he quipped with a grin before taking a sip.

"Oh I'm sure Jo could list a few more…"

Spencer feigned a look of disbelief.

"You men are all the same…you find your woman and then think that because she thinks you good enough to marry then all your vices are swept away…" said Danielle with twinkling eyes and stretching a little from sitting too long at her computer.

"Now that's an unfair and a somewhat sweeping statement…And what about you women?" Spencer challenged sipping more coffee, "God this is good…I need my coffee to work at maximum efficiency," he justified.

"Right…so you're not addicted to the beans then?"

"Now I didn't say that. But let's put it this way, I need my coffee first thing in the morning or nothing, absolutely nothing, seems to go right! Then I need regular top ups throughout the day…It's my liquid fuel!"

Danielle couldn't stop the laughter that was bubbling up, "Oh I'm glad you're back, Spencer, I'm waiting to hear about what was said."

Spencer sat back and became the serious agent once more.

"Shields is going to be moved to Connecticut this evening on the pretext that we have received threats against him so he's being moved for his own safety. The Baltimore Holding Facility is to refer all enquiries concerning his whereabouts to us and we will tell enquirers that he's being sent to Los Angeles well away from this area. At the Connecticut prison, he will be admitted into the solitary wing under the name of David White and his background story is that he killed his ex- lover's boyfriend who was an Albany cop. Hopefully that way he will keep the 'interested' at bay. I can't imagine Shields telling anyone the truth, he's too scared because he knows what the syndicate is capable of if I'm right about him disposing of the bodies."

"Oh great, the back ground really covers a lot of bases then…cop killer, so the prison staff will keep their distance but no hint of his real crime. But we still have to be careful about revealing this unit when we go to interview him."

"Yeah, but I'm still more widely known as a member of the BAU so the Director gave me my old ID back. My cover is that I'm trying to connect him with other unsolved murders in New York State."

"That should keep him isolated then. What about a lawyer?"

"One's been checked out, an experienced defender who worked with another cover placement a couple of years ago. The Connecticut Office approached him and he's agreed but doesn't know the real name and nature of the crime at the moment."

"Well, it's comforting to know that the lawyer's acted in this way before. Anything about our rogue?"

"Everything is in place. He's under surveillance. His office is bugged, telephones, computer system, home and there are two agents who are personally keeping a special eye on him. People he has no previous connection with and totally unknown to the Washington area. He's been in Washington over 6 years so he has a lot of contacts and goodness knows what damage the guy has done. But on a good note, our people here all check out…so Roy and Andrea can be brought into the loop…in fact I saw Roy for the later half of the hour I was there."

"Did you tell the Director about Tony and Carl?"

"Yes, I did. He smiled about it actually and said that we had a good team here and Robert knew his limitations. If he had tried to break into the Washington Security then our rogue would have got to know that he was under suspicion and would have been careful to cover his tracks. He's been very clever so far and the Director is very worried about the possible complexity of this password I'm trying to break."

"Yeah, Lisa Torte may have some computing skills but I can't believe they are that good."

" But our rogue has a lot of clever friends. Did you know that his brother in law is working in communications for National Security?"

"Oh this is getting to be a hornets nest. Poor Katie,... she's going to get back and find that we have taken some interesting steps."

Spencer nodded in agreement, "Anyway, Roy is now upto speed about developments and worried that the Public Defender's Office may be contaminated. He directly asked the Director if his people had all been screened and was assured that they had all been checked and found to be clean."

"Oh good because I like Roy and I would have been upset if anything had been found to implicate him," confessed Danielle.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy and totally committed to this work. It will be a relief not to be keeping things from him because he has a lot of experience and a level head," replied Spencer, "Do you know if Robert has completed all the background checks on Duke's lawyer?"

"He's been shut in his office all afternoon and no one has dared to interrupt!"

"I'll go and see how he's getting on when I've finished my coffee. I'll get him chatting about Mordor… that should get him in a good mood, he enjoys a good Tolkein exchange!"

"You know, sometimes I think I'm the only sane one here!" Danielle muttered as she turned back to her backlog of work concerning this case. Spencer grinned and made his way out into the bullpen and bumped into Carl en route to Robert's office.

"Everything's set into place. The Director was very impressed over the actions you and Tony took," he said for just Carl's hearing.

"Yeah! He didn't consider it disloyal?" whispered Carl and suddenly made the connection of where the younger agent had been that afternoon.

"No, he thought under the circumstances that you were being very careful and he felt sure that you would have told him if anything had been uncovered."

Carl nodded, he'd not liked taking the actions they had and felt relieved that the Director understood.

"On a good note, Roy and his people are in the clear," Spencer added and the two men grinned at each other, "Tony back yet?"

"No…"

"Tell him quietly that everything is being taken care of," Spencer said softly, "I've got to see how Robert has been getting on with Duke's lawyer. If I remember correctly, I think he was rather new to the Public Defender's Office…"

Spencer moved on and slipped into Robert's special work area.

Robert was happy to see Reid and even more so after Carl had earlier confessed that he'd told this deputy about their unofficial 'checking'. Reid had just said quietly to Robert that the Director was relieved that he'd not tried to hack into the Washington Office security but to be assured that everything in that corner of the world was under control. Robert had nodded and a shy smile crossed his face.

"Good…but we only did it for the good of the CACU," he stated seriously.

"Yes, the Director and Danielle and I…we all understand that but now just let others in a better position keep an eye on things in that part of the world. Now how's the checking into Scott Hamilton getting on?" asked Spencer directing the conversation to the case that they were to directly deal with.

"I've found nothing suspicious. Comes from New Jersey, both parents are teachers, he's the eldest son, lives with the girlfriend he met at university…she's a teacher of the deaf. Lives on the outskirts of Baltimore and qualified last year and was accepted by Maryland for work in the Baltimore Public Defenders Division. His finances check out, he and the girlfriend seem to be concentrating on paying off the student debts…"

"So your instincts about this is that everything is normal?" Spencer asked Robert and saw the man's face light up with pride because his professional opinion was being considered.

"Yes, I'd say he was clean," he replied in a quiet and steady voice.

"That's great Robert, good job…and sorry that it was thrown at you on a Friday afternoon."

"Hey…it comes with the job…"

"Just want you to know that your work is appreciated," replied Spencer with a smile and left to find Carl again.

"Do you fancy some Saturday morning work? I don't think it will take long," Spencer invited.

"How could I resist after Shields although I think my butt is still numb from those prison chairs," quipped Carl with a grin.

"I just want to lean on him for the password and then see what we get… If he offers more, well it will be a bonus. But Duke has had no visitors so far…"

"Fine do you want me to inform the authorities so they can tell him and his lawyer,"

"Please then we'll see him at 9:15 tomorrow and after call it a day. If I get a password then I want to mull it over. It could take me weeks to crack this but I've got to get it right or I could scare the real powers of the syndicate and risk losing everything."

"See you in the car park at 8:30 and I drive like today?"

"Perfect, I'll go and tell Danielle our plans and then head off home."

Later that evening, Spencer found from his e-mails that J.J. had now been sent to San Francisco for a few months. Garcia was very chatty about events at Quantico and Spencer suddenly felt that he missed his colourful friend, despite the extrovert Dee on the reception desk of his present world.

"Jo, are we doing anything special on Sunday?" he suddenly called from the small study.

Jo appeared at the door, "No, why?"

"I thought about asking Garcia over for lunch…J.J.'s been sent to California at short notice and I think perhaps it might help her to adjust to that change. She and J.J. are close at the BAU and I suspect that Garcia's keeping herself even more to her lair now," he tried to explain. But there was something about the tone of her e-mail that made him think that Penelope Garcia was feeling a little at a loose end and perhaps an unexpected invite might perk her up.

"That would be nice, you always speak of her with such warmth," Jo replied sensing that Spencer wanted to get a feel for what things were really like back at the BAU now.

"Yeah, Penelope's like the big sister I've always wanted. She's totally off the wall but she has a heart of gold and is very sensitive…I think you'll like her," he replied with a grin and began to compose an invite to send.

Penelope Garcia had sat down to eat her dinner and watch a double re-run of 'House'. She had dealt with her e-mails while her low fat version of 'cottage pie' was cooking and she sat back to saviour a few minutes peace. It was strange at the BAU these days and in fact she did far more work for the 'white collar crime' guys who worked on the floor above. She thought that perhaps she would be transferred there if her skills were not being properly used in the BAU. Still she enjoyed the contact with Raymond, the senior agent, who initially came to request her help because they were on a big case and their two analysts were snowed under. It had saved her from boredom and the growing possibility that she was going to start some 'hacking' just for the fun of it.

After two episodes of 'House' she decided to check her e-mail again before going to bed. J.J. had sent a message saying that she liked the team she was now working with and she had a nice apartment. Then Penelope saw the message from her 'Junior G man'. She clicked and read…

'Penelope, Would you like to come over for Sunday lunch this weekend? If it's fine we can take you on a walk round the area but I know you and Jo want to meet each other and I may be banished from the kitchen as you two chat! We are very easy to reach by car and Jo's a good cook. Spencer and Jo.'

She grinned and tapped away an immediate reply saying that she would be there by 11:30 so they would be able to chat away and she'd even walk in the rain!

Saturday was a dull and chilly day but Carl and Spencer were upbeat about their task for the morning. It was a different holding centre for remand prisoners than the one where Austin Shields had been held. However, the procedure was almost identical except Henry Duke was not in chains and this time he was already with his lawyer waiting for the two agents to arrive.

Carl took the lead like before and made the introductions, "We are here to see if you would like to say anymore about the young girl who died and the other men, Mick and Kevin," Carl said evenly.

"I've told you all I know, I made my statement. I didn't give that girl anything to eat or drink and certainly didn't administer any drugs," Duke firmly asserted, "Look, I keep telling you people, and the police, this is the first time I've ever been involved in anything like this… I've made one hell of a mess of my life with that one mistake."

Scott Hamilton quietly sat beside his client and felt a little sorry for Henry Duke as he had done everything that had been requested of him by the FBI and the police and had been a model prisoner. However, there was something about this Saturday visit that now set him on edge. Hamilton remembered the younger agent from the day that Duke was arrested and he'd been assigned the case. This Dr. Reid was quiet but persistent and he didn't think that he would be wasting his time coming here to interview his client unless he had a very good reason to.

Hamilton felt out of his depth with this case, it had turned into the murder of a juvenile aswell as the abduction of a minor and under age sex. He consoled himself that at least Henry wasn't involved in the abductions or murder side of things but he had participated in sex with a minor. However, Hamilton still felt uncomfortable representing this client but his boss, Trudie, had told him to get use to it because he needed the experience of such cases. She had listened to his moans about being unsympathetic towards his client but she had told him firmly that he wasn't supposed to have a bleeding heart for every client. Trudie assured him he'd soon toughen up and that this was a good one to start with as the defendant did look to be on his first appearance before the courts.

"Oh I don't think you're that innocent Mr. Duke," challenged Spencer Reid softly.

Scott Hamilton was suddenly very alert; the alarm bells began to ring in his head and he began to concentrate on the men in the room.

"I don't know what you're getting at," Duke replied in an unruffled manner.

"Oh I think you do. I'm sure that you have heard about Brian Rankin being attacked on Christmas Day and his subsequent death. It looks like an unprovoked attack from the prison surveillance footage but we know differently don't we, Mr. Duke?"

"I don't know what you're talking about…I don't know of, and didn't know to be precise, a Brian Rankin," Henry Duke firmly stated but the men in the room had noticed the prisoner's voice had sounded a little agitated and he had begun to fidget on the chair. Carl smiled and Spencer observed him calmly taking his time before he delivered the next statement.

"But Mr. Duke, we know that you went to Brian Rankin's special club, the illegal one with the under age girls. You've already said that you liked to watch girls dance at the Silver Bear Club. But this club was a bit more exclusive, you could only attend by special invitation and it cost a lot of money and always in cash. We know that you always drew out a lot of money from your account on the day that this special venue was going to be open…Or perhaps you have another reason for the regular withdrawal? But be careful because we do have evidence that you were a client at this special club. We know about the little extras that went on there…the personal lap dancing and the time spent with the girl of your choice alone. Tell me, do you like the dark Latino type or was that a first with Vikki?"

Henry Duke's face suddenly contorted and a different man was seen to the one that had been known since his arrest.

"I don't know what you're trying to pin on me but you're bluffing!" he angrily said as he leaned across the table towards Reid.

"Mr. Duke!" Hamilton intervened, "Mr Duke, this is not the way to talk to these two agents and it's certainly in your interests not to withhold any information. As I've told you before, co-operation goes a long way in these cases," the lawyer soothed but he wondered just what the CACU had on his client. He'd heard about the Rankin attack and his office was full of speculation and gossip over the lax prison regime that had lead to such an incident.

"Mr. Duke, I know about the Torte Spares site," Spencer said in his soft calm voice and Carl watched the prisoner's eyes widen in disbelief, his defiance seemed to dissipate as he sat back speechless on the hard wooden chair.

Hamilton looked at the two confident agents and read the situation.

"Mr. Duke, do you wish to discuss this matter with me alone?" he suggested turning his attention on the man who seemed to now be very nervous. Hamilton thought he could smell the fear that the man was emitting beside him.

Duke shook his head and took a few minutes to weigh up his position. He was in a mess, whoever had given Vikki the drugs had miscalculated but where were Kev and Mick? They had got well away before the raid on the house. Just how safe was he in the prison system? They had got at Rankin and now this young agent was saying that they knew he attended Rankin's illegal club so that would blow his defence out of the water. Were they bluffing? But part of him knew that they had to know quite a lot if they were aware of the Torte site. They had confiscated all the computers of the men arrested with him and obviously someone got suspicious of the pictures on the external drives or one of the men had talked…perhaps that's why Rankin had been silenced.

The four men sat in silence each wrapped in their own thoughts.

Carl was content to observe and appreciated the quiet measured pressure that Reid employed. This physically slightly built man was very dangerous but suspects looking at him probably only saw an open, almost boyish, face and gangling figure. Carl thought that Reid was a superb actor at hiding his true abilities behind the shy smile and surprisingly soft voice, which could sound so hesitant and lacking in confidence when it served his purpose.

Spencer knew he had the weak link but if Duke wouldn't co-operate then he would lean on 'Terry' Leith who was not one to want to be implicated in a murder either…Leith was a watcher and recorder but not a man to physically harm. His child porn was extensive but…

"I need to talk to my lawyer for a bit alone," Duke said breaking into the younger agent's thoughts.

"As you wish," answered the unruffled Dr. Reid and he and Carl pushed back their chairs and left the room to take a walk down the corridor and review their tactics.

They went to the end of the corridor and finding themselves alone, because no other prisoners were being interviewed at that time, they began a whispered conversation.

"What do you think?" Carl asked.

"Oh, he's lost his confidence because we've blown his 'first time' plea. I think we just need to imply that if we know he was frequenting Rankin's club then so did others and Rankin was taken care off, so he needs to be careful…"

"Yeah, he looks ripe for the harvesting of information. So you got any plans for this weekend?" Carl suddenly asked changing direction because he couldn't see anything else they could do except wait for the lawyer to convince his client to co-operate.

"Got a friend coming for lunch tomorrow so I left Jo planning a low fat meal as Penelope has been loosing weight and we want to encourage her. Jo's pretty careful about what she eats but she likes to make a special effort when we have guests. It doesn't really matter for me because I can eat anything! I bet by the time I get home Jo will have done the shopping and prepared things so very little needs to actually be done tomorrow except cook what she has prepared today… I bet she'll be making a dessert today," he replied letting his mind linger on the possibilities.

"Women…they are so organised. I sometimes wonder how I lived on my own for so long…Oh here comes our rookie defender."

Spencer turned and saw Hamilton walking up the corridor towards them.

"I think my client is ready to speak to you gentlemen again but he's a bit concerned about his safety."

"Well we can understand that, Mr. Hamilton, but this is not the same holding centre as where Rankin was placed," Carl replied implying that the lax regime had contributed to Rankin's demise.

The three men returned to the room and the guard, who had remained with Duke while his lawyer went to find the agents, now quietly left as the men once more took their positions at the worn table.

"Your lawyer says that you're ready to answer my questions?" Spencer stated mildly.

The young man before him stared hard into Spencer's eyes as if trying to read his mind but Duke nodded his assent.

"Who introduced you to the illegal Rankin club?"

"Fred," he replied but showed no indication that he was going to give any more details. The name didn't surprise either agent considering Frederick Cooper's role in meeting up with Jessica and her subsequent rape.

"Did he also get you involved with the Torte site?"

"Yeah, he said for a fee I could get access to a secure site where I could find some good material."

"So what did it cost you?"

"Four thousand," he said reluctantly.

"Cash?"

"Yeah…once on the site you could pay by credit card."

"So you gave Fred the cash and he gave you the external hard drive."

Duke smiled, "No, so you don't know everything," he taunted and snorted disdainfully at the thought of being the one who could send them in the wrong direction.

"Don't even think about lying to us," Spencer interjected with razor sharpness to his tone of voice and the grin that had come across Duke's face disappeared. Spencer Reid continued, "The external hard drive was then delivered by the Torte Spares Special Delivery service but you were a bit frustrated weren't you because you then had to pay a bit more for the personalised password."

Duke couldn't stop the jolt that went through his body along with the realisation that someone really had talked. It wouldn't have been Fred but perhaps this was why Rankin had been killed.

"So…why all the show of interviewing me on a Saturday morning when you know all this?" the prisoner probed.

"Because what I want from you is your personal password," Reid stated with a cold edge to his soft voice that was like a scalpel cutting through a festering abscess.

"My password?"

"Yes, each one is personalised for the user…a nice security touch that. But you would like to co-operate with us as it is the first time that you are to appear in court, even if Agent Miyake and myself believe that you have been involved in the 'under age' sex scene for some time."

"And if I told you I don't remember it?"

"I wouldn't believe you as I think you enjoyed the site so much that you were a regular visitor, everyday for several hours a day. I think that code sequence of upper and lower case letters and numbers are burned into your soul by now."

Reid reached into his jacket pocket and took out the notebook. He studiously turned to a clean page and reached into his inner pocket again to retrieve a black ballpoint and pushed both towards the prisoner.

"Why don't you try to remember," Reid encouraged the prisoner.

"And if I say I can't remember?" Duke tried again.

Reid smiled, "Oh your lawyer would advise you to co-operate. But if you don't then I have to still submit a report about the time I've spent here and that would have to get passed on as a failure to co-operate, which the judge might not take too well when considering your sentence. You can hardly plead innocence, Henry, we arrested you at the scene and you did admit to the sex or perhaps we should call it statutory rape because you were well aware that those girls were under age. Of course, here people might think that you have co-operated because we did come on a Saturday…They might even think you asked to speak to us…"

"Agent!" Hamilton jumped in.

"Mr. Hamilton I was merely pointing out what other people here might think…Were you suggesting another meaning?" Spencer asked in his soft innocent voice and big steady chocolate coloured eyes turned fully on the young lawyer.

Hamilton was not happy but this man had not said anything overtly threatening. He stared at these two experienced men and felt that he was floundering and wished Trudie had been at his side.

"Well you know that my computer has nothing on it," Duke suddenly stated.

"Yes, but we both know the significance of the pictures from the New England holiday in the Fall of 2006 and I need your password to find out what you have been looking at. If you don't help us then I will make sure that your sentencing will reflect that you did not co-operate. I already have passwords so its only a matter of time before your personal one is broken...It's up to you...co-operation might lead to less time spent in prison."

"I want a prison where I can get proper counselling," Duke suddenly began to bargain.

"Really, well that's special treatment and such counselling programmes for sex offenders are only offered by some of this country's more forward looking prisons. You have to show that you would benefit by being on such a programme. Now if your lawyer could state that you co-operated all along then that might help to sway things in your favour," replied Reid in a gentle and reasonable tone.

Hamilton breathed carefully, calming his own beating heart that was threatening to plunge him into a panic attack. He began to mentally question his ability to do this work; it was one thing to study law but the actual practice at the bleak end of offences was another matter.

But the situation was suddenly resolved for him when his client suddenly picked up the ballpoint and wrote a sequence of letters and numbers on the small white page.

"I've got a headache, I need to lie down," Duke suddenly stated.

"Sorry to hear that, Mr. Duke. I hope that you'll be feeling better soon," said Spencer rising and Carl followed suit.

The two agents walked silently back to the car; Carl once again took the driver's seat.

"Good morning!" he stated with a smile, " I'm thinking that you bluffed your way with the bit about the delivery of the external drive and paying extra for the password?"

"Yeah it was an educated guess but I think the cost for the site keeps the clientele more up market. But that lawyer isn't going to last long unless he toughens up…He's inclined to believe his clients too much."

"Well, perhaps he'll get out of criminal law and find another niche," suggested Carl good humouredly and felt the drive back to College Park was just perfect even if the weather was murky.

When Spencer entered his home there was the smell of cooking although he knew Jo was in the study because he had seen her at the computer as he parked his car in front of the garage door. In the kitchen he noticed a fruit crumble cooling on the counter top. He opened the fridge door and saw a freshly made trifle on the middle shelf and then he checked the freezer and was happy to see two new large tubs of ice-cream, one chocolate mint and the other vanilla. Jo had obviously been shopping and cooking but he wondered what they were going to be eating for lunch.

Arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind and squeezed his waist. "So you're hungry?" Jo said in a stern voice but he knew that she was suppressing laughter.

"I had an early start and I've worked quite hard," he said feigning insult.

"Really, I thought you said last night that you believed this morning would be 'a bit of a push over'" she replied quoting the very words he had said.

"You were actually listening to me?" he asked incredulously.

"What else would I be doing at gone midnight even if I did think I'd succeeded in distracting you earlier to take your mind off the case." she replied hugging him from behind.

"Well you did but then I couldn't sleep because this case is getting to be quite a tangle. I've really got to get this bit right or I could totally throw away everything that has been building up for the past year. It has been carefully handled so far and I don't want it to be me who blows it!" he said suddenly serious and Jo began to understand that there was a lot that her husband had not said and it was worrying him.

"Peter Bishop is on his way," Jo suddenly announced and moved round to face him.

"What?" Spencer replied totally thrown by this sudden change in direction of their conversation and his thoughts. But Jo had achieved the desired effect; Spencer was beaming his happiness at the news.

"Peter rang this morning asking if he could sleep on our couch this evening because he could only get to his girlfriend's home by an indirect route due to all the flights being booked for the Christmas and New Year period." Jo explained as she watched her husband's mood change and he was looking so much younger than a few minutes ago.

"Doesn't Becky live in Wilmington?" Spencer asked trying to retrieve the conversation he had with his friend from his Nevada University days when living in the Bishop household.

"Yes, but he could only get a flight to Washington today and then he thought he'd stop off and see us en route because he would be so close. Becky's family are not expecting him until tomorrow…Sunday lunch with the parents apparently…the first time…"

"Wow…Becky must be special," Spencer agreed with his Jo's 'knowing' look that shone from her black eyes.

"Mmm. Anyway, I assured him he could have the comforts of the spare bedroom and I'd feed him with lunch when he arrived and dinner tonight. His flight was getting in at 12:28 so I told him to call when he was on the train and one of us would meet him at the College Park station."

"Oh this is wonderful, you'll like Peter…Great Star Trek fan! What are we having for lunch?" Spencer asked cheerfully.

"Home-made cheese pizza with black olives and an assortment of peppers, onion and tomatoes it's all prepared… I'll cook it so it will be ready for when he walks through the door. Tonight its chicken breasts stuffed with brown rice, green peppers and mushrooms with a basic salad. You can have the trifle for dessert."

"What are we giving Penelope tomorrow?" he asked and his stomach began to rumble a little at the thought of Jo's cooking.

"Home-made 'penne primavera' with apple and plum crumble for dessert…I got some more ice-cream for topping."

Spencer smiled it was going to be a really good weekend.

The telephone ringing broke into their thoughts and Spencer strode into the study to answer it.

"Spencer Reid," he intoned seriously hoping that it was not the CACU.

"Hey Spencer great to hear you, I'm on the train heading your way."

"Peter…I'm on my way, Jo's already organised home-made pizza for lunch."

Suddenly the house was quiet again and Jo went into the kitchen and set the coffee machine working and laid the table before turning on the oven. She was delighted that Spencer seemed so happy about the fact that this weekend they were entertaining. It was something Jo felt he needed to break the hold that this present case had on the man she loved.

End of Chapter 12


	13. Chapter 13

**The Interregnum: Chapter 13**

**by Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Morgan ran along with Clunny at his side. It felt good to run in the crisp morning air. He was the only one about this early on a Sunday, but the sense of freedom and physical movement felt good compared to the two days he'd spent at his desk since returning from Chicago. It was ridiculous, he'd only been back a couple of days at the BAU and he was already feeling hemmed in by the inactivity of deskwork. Then to find that J.J. had been seconded to San Francisco had just rubbed salt into the wounds of inactivity as far as he was concerned.

It was the first day of a New Year and he hoped that it was going to be the best year ever…with his marriage all set for the Saturday before Easter. His Mom and sisters were excited already and Angela was well ahead in the planning. The only fly in the ointment was the job situation and he really couldn't see a way out of the office at the moment. He had enjoyed the Police work. As a graduate Police Officer he had been fast tracked into detective work and smoothly slipped into undercover work for a few years. He had the confidence in himself to work in difficult situations but he had grown bored with normal detective investigative work when he was removed off the streets after his face became known. It was then that he applied for the FBI, an experienced Police Officer with an interest in the motives of offenders but again he had got interested in the 'Bomb Squad' because he liked the challenge of the pressure.

Morgan pounded on over the crest of the hill, following the path through the park. Clunny was effortlessly keeping pace, man and beast happily sharing the experience.

Morgan's thoughts suddenly turned a little darker and he began to question his own motives.

Was Erroll Hart correct in thinking that he only sought out the more prestigious positions? It was true that he had not been satisfied to be just a detective. He had needed to belong to a squad where he would stand out for his work…Undercover work was dangerous but he had coped with it and actually enjoyed the element of danger because he felt it kept his wits sharp. He had applied for the 'FBI Bomb Data Centre' and was trained for the 'explosives unit' for the same reason; he needed the challenge of beating the dangerous odds…

"But that 'Bomb Squad' hadn't quite been like you had imagined it would be!" a tiny inner voice of his conscience taunted him.

Derek Morgan stamped down hard on the path and increased his speed, he shut down hard on the mocking inner voice…No he wasn't going there, he had finally got the move to the exclusive BAU…now that was even more prestigious.

'Yeah,' Morgan reminded himself, 'Not many agents made it to the BAU so he'd better keep his head down during the present difficult funding crisis.'

He turned along the path that would lead him out of the park and ran along the empty street, up the slow incline to his town house.

Since Angela had moved in, the house had more colours with her bright throws, plants and ornaments. It no longer had the 'bachelor pad' feel of steel, black, white and grey colours of minimalist décor and furnishings. Cluny reached the front door first and after Morgan had opened the door, the dog went straight into the kitchen and the basin of water that would be waiting for him.

Morgan ran up the stairs and kicked off his trainers as he reached the bedroom and entered bathroom already pulling off the 't shirt' and reached to start the shower. Ten minutes later he slipped into the bed besides the still sleeping woman, his hands began to roam over her breasts and he was satisfied when she began to respond to his attentions.

"Mmm…Derek," Angela sleepily managed.

"Happy New Year," he whispered into her ear before he nibbled the lobe and pressed his muscular body against hers. Angela knew exactly what this man wanted but she wasn't complaining, they had a good sex life. It surprised her a little because they had welcomed the New Year in downstairs and had energetically made love and now he wanted a repeat performance. She idly wondered if she was going to be out of bed before midday today but then she gave in to her body's physical pleasures.

In another state, another young couple had enjoyed seeing the New Year in with a friend who was staying with them overnight. Spencer had just left to take Peter to the station so he could continue his journey. It had been a wonderful time with Peter Bishop and just what Spencer had needed to take him totally away from the pressures of his work.

Peter was like his father; he even had Dr. Bishop's witty sense of humour. The time with Peter passed so quickly and, despite the awful weather that confined them indoors, the three of them just slipped into an easy going flow of conversations. These conversations ranged over the physics of Star Trek, the Trek's Dominion Wars, the beauty of early polyphonic church music, the poetry of Seamus Heaney, King Lear, Hamlet and the Tempest, the creativity of J. S. Bach and his 48 preludes and fugues. Ringing Becky so they could all wish each other a Happy New Year was a perfect end to the evening at midnight.

Over breakfast, it was agreed that Becky had to come with Peter next time and suddenly the house seemed empty with the two man gone. Jo was left to clear up the breakfast things and prepare for lunch and the arrival of Penelope. Spencer had not been back in the house 10 minutes before the phone rang but it was Josh Kramer asking for Spencer's help back at his house.

"I'm just going to help Josh move some furniture, it's for Ezra's bedroom. He finished decorating it before Christmas but then he had to work over the Christmas period and didn't get the time to make up the flat pack furniture. Josh has finished that now and asked if I'd help him move it upstairs to surprise Ezra. Shelley's taken the kids to visit their grandparents and Josh is expected for lunch so it shouldn't take that long," Spencer explained as he put on his thick charcoal overcoat for the quick walk over to the Kramer house.

"Yeah, fine…I've got everything organised here," Jo assured and thought it was nice that Josh felt he could call on Spencer to help him.

The wonderful smell of percolating coffee and freshly baked sesame and yoghurt scones filled the house. It was just after 11 o'clock when the doorbell sounded.

Penelope Garcia was happy, she was going to see her friend and meet his wife. Emily had already met Jo but she'd not been invited into their home and Garcia was well aware of the honour extended to her. It also meant that Spencer had really forgiven her for trying to hack into his medical records, the episode still made her feel embarrassed and silly that she had followed Morgan's wishes. She was grateful for Hotch speaking up for her and the forgiveness that Spencer had shown her when she returned but being invited to his home was more than she could have believed would happen, especially after J.J. had been seconded. It was originally a vague invite for the pair of them but this had come out of the blue and she was just fizzing with the excitement of it all.

The drive was easy, just as Spencer had promised, but it also meant that she was early and hoped that they would not mind too much. The house was the smallest in the street and between two imposing residences but she parked in the driveway and picked up the flowers she had stopped to buy on the way. Penelope approached the door and pressed the brass round button of the bell and waited her heart beating fast with the excitement.

Jo opened the door to find a bespectacled blond in a scarlet wool coat and black fedora hat standing on the doorstep.

"Hello, I'm Penelope," and she stared at the dark haired, dark-eyed woman who was smaller than herself and she just didn't look at all how she had imagined despite the wedding photograph that Spencer had e-mailed her.

Jo grinned and stepped back from the door, "Hi! Come on in, Spencer's helping a friend put some furniture into his son's bedroom…He should be back anytime, but we can get chatting can't we…" she invited in a tone that Penny knew meant woman to woman, the very thing that men had no clue about in reality!

Penelope stepped inside and thrust the flowers towards her host, " I'm sorry that they're not very grand but…"

"Nonsense it was very kind of you to bring flowers and such a wonderful collection of colours," Jo said as she accepted the gift. There must have been three dozen chrysanthemum stems in a mixture of yellows, oranges, red and white. "Lets get that coat and hat off and then we can get comfortable over coffee in the kitchen and put these lovely flowers in water."

Penelope felt gathered into the warmth of the home and was soon helping Jo in the kitchen arranging flowers in the four tall vases that her host had quickly brought together for the task.

As Spencer approached his home he could see Garcia's car in the drive and he felt a warm glow of anticipation at the thought of seeing his friend again. He deliberately put his key as quietly as possible into the lock and crept inside. He noticed that the kitchen door was only just ajar and there was the laughter of the two women's voices as he gently and carefully closed the front door. Spencer took off his heavy overcoat and hung it up and smiled at seeing the scarlet coat; it was definitely a Garcia coat. He then stealthily crept towards the kitchen door and inched it open.

"Well he called it physics magic and then there was Hotch…looking all stern and every inch the boss staring down at his feet where the missile had landed…We girls decided it was time to get back to work…"

Jo was giggling and this got Garcia giggling too at the memory.

"So have I got any secrets left?" he suddenly asked softly but with a stern voice and both women turned to him in surprise.

"I'll take the fifth!" Garcia rapidly fired back which only made Jo giggle even more.

Spencer broke into a broad grin and held out his arms. Penelope found herself in a hug but Jo obviously was not upset by the contact as she was grinning at the pair,

"It's good to hear and see you Penelope," Spencer said warmly and Garcia could sense the smile in his voice. He let go and moved out of the embrace but as he stepped back Spencer caught her hands in his, "Now lets look at this transformation," he said appraising her and Garcia fought back the tears.

Spencer had been one of the few people to notice that she was losing weight at the BAU. He had even asked her one night, when everyone else had gone home, if she was well because he had noticed the weight loss. When she had told him about her determination to get her weight under control, and that she had even joined a slimming club, he had been quietly encouraging but she had asked him not to mention it to the others. Spencer had been true to his word, however, he would say little encouraging words when they were alone and thought her intention of surprising the unit at Christmas was a great idea. But then he had been moved and Garcia had missed his encouraging comments.

"Wow! You look wonderful, Garcia. Now no more hiding behind those big sweaters but you're still Penelope Garcia with your love of colour!" he said gently squeezing her hands with appreciation of her achievement. Today she was dressed in an outfit that consisted of a bubble gum pink sweater that had an emperor purple border of inch high stars that was repeated at the neckline and the cuffs. The knee-high skirt was black with the star design giving the sombre colour some bright relief with alternate emperor purple and bubble gum pink stars dancing for two inches around the hem. The brown eyes travelled lower and noted that she wore pink tights and purple shoes with black bows to complete the outfit.

"You've had your hair re-styled," he said looking at the shorter style and grinning at the large silver and purple rings that fell from her ear lobes.

"So…So have you!" Garcia batted back to him.

"Yeah, but you look really great and should keep it like this for a while, you look stunning and shows off your lovely face more and the weight loss…No more hiding in that lair of yours…Bet you got a lot of attention at the Christmas get together!" Spencer said mischievously letting go of her hands.

Garcia wriggled her hips, "You bet! I was the Queen Bee in that room! But perhaps J.J. would argue with me over that statement but as she's not here to make her case…"

"See, " he said looking at Jo, "There's only one Garcia!"

Jo laughed, it was good to see Spencer so relaxed and she liked Penelope. Jo sensed that this woman was going to be amongst their regular visitors, even if Spencer was called away.

The rain slashed against the windows and the three decided not to venture out after lunch. Penelope asked about the wedding and they showed her the copy of the recording Jeff had made. But above all they talked and laughed the hours away until Garcia really did have to leave after an unexpected supper, of savoury stuffed peppers with plain salad and followed by lemon sorbet, before her drive home. As she drove homeward, a very contented Penelope felt that she had renewed one friendship and secured a new one.

The Reids' had gone to bed feeling very happy and Spencer felt that the New Year had started well. For the first time in days he had felt really relaxed and had managed to totally forget about CACU work.

In another part of Maryland, further north and westwards than the Reid home, a young couple stood together at the bedroom door staring in amazement at the two babies that they had been allowed to bring home that morning. Shannon had given birth to the twins naturally at 3:24 a.m. on December 26th. She had missed Christmas lunch as her labour started as they had sat down with her Mom and sister's family to enjoy the feast. Justin had driven her carefully to the hospital but they were both scared and excited at the same time. They were first time parents and the responsibility was awesome…they had twins, a fact they still couldn't quite believe as they stared at the cots. They had known since the first sonogram but it was still unreal until Justin had witnessed with his own eyes their coming into the world; Eliza had came first and three minutes later, her brother, Michael.

The twin's birthday had passed in a daze for the young couple. Justin had rung all the family and friends he could think of and even ran out of credit for his cell and had to find a shop to get a top up. Shannon had been exhausted after the initial euphoria of holding and feeding them for the first time and had then slept for most of the day. By the time she'd felt like eating it was the early evening and her family had come to see the first ever twins in the family. The next few days had passed quickly getting to know the two new individuals and receiving visitors. The hospital had insisted that Shannon was to stay until the weekend saying that new mothers needed to take things easy for a few days and they wanted to make sure that Shannon was well enough to cope after her blood loss at their birth. Her own Mom had told her to make the most of the hospital care because once at home she'd have her hands full with two of them. Now they had left the protective world of the hospital they were truly on their own as parents and the twins were their own little miracles.

At 4:15 a.m., on January's first Monday, a baby's crying woke the new parents.

"Can you tell which one it is?" Justin asked.

"No," Shannon quietly said swinging her legs out of bed and wrapping herself into a warm fleecy lilac coloured dressing gown, "I'm sure the other one will start soon…" she yawned as she shuffled tiredly to the room next door.

A few minutes later, Justin heard another cry, he thought the pitch was different, or perhaps he was imagining it. But he got up to go and see because he didn't think Shannon would be able to fed one baby and comfort the other at the same time.

Shannon was nursing Eliza so Justin went and picked up Michael.

"Hey, little man, you're going to have to wait a little because your sister got there first."

"I should be able to nurse them both," Shannon said, "They showed me how to do it at the hospital but it meant being propped up on the bed and more pillows for supporting them. The couch wasn't too bad earlier but I think I'll need to get some more pillows."

Justin held his son feeling totally useless, remembering now how supportive the hospital had been and this practical side of things had just not occurred to either of them until now. They had coped in the living room on the couch with all the cushions and space but this easy chair, in this room, just seemed too small to nurse both of them.

"I'll ring Mom tomorrow and ask her if she's got any spare pillows…I think I would be more comfortable on the bed but then it'll disturb your sleep," she said quietly and Justin wondered if he deserved a wife like Shannon.

"Can we swap and you can burp this lady and I'll feed the her brother."

Justin just stood staring at Shannon for a moment wondering how to exchange the babies over without one or both falling on the floor.

Shannon saw the problem, "Put Michael back in his cot while I give you Eliza."

The man did as he was told and marvelled at the instincts of mothers.

It was still raining as people arrived at the College Park complex for the first day of a new week in the New Year.

Dee beamed her welcome and 'Happy New Year' to everyone who passed through the CACU doors. She was looking happy in a canary yellow wool dress that defied the dullness outside but she seemed a pale imitation to Garcia in Spencer's mind.

He sat at his desk reading over the reports that had appeared over the weekend and drinking hot coffee from the berry red mug that everyone there knew belonged to the genius.

"Morning…Nice weekend?" Danielle asked as she walked in carrying a large poinsettia plant, "Oh look the red leaves are the colour of your mug!"

"Left over from Christmas?" Spencer asked taking another sip of coffee and wondering where she was going to put the plant.

Danielle moved a small stack of files off the top of a regulation grey steel filing cabinet that was immediately behind her seat.

"My cat has taken to nibbling off the red leaves, she's spoilt two others we had in the house for Christmas. This one only survived because she has been shut out of the dining room. You got any pets?"

"No just bears," he replied mildly and Danielle turned to look quizzically at her colleague.

"Jo's a bear fanatic. I told her one bear per room but she's creeping them in…" he said keeping a serious face but Danielle could feel a grin forming on her own.

"Bears…right! Well no body's perfect Spencer," she added evenly but she had an insane image form in her mind of Spencer Reid valiantly trying to get through his front door only to find hundreds of stuffed bears barring his way.

"They're called arctophiles…" he added.

Danielle's images disappeared as she concentrated on this new word.

"Who or what are called arctophiles?"

"Teddy Bear lovers…"

Danielle sank into her chair and wondered, as it was only 8:30, what the rest of the day was going to be like... 'probably a little crazy' her mind replied.

The agents were all busy following up other lines of enquiry or preparing for court appearances which were going to take several of them away from their desks, for at least a week, when a major sex ring came to court. It had been before Spencer's time but the unit had felt pretty pleased with themselves when they had broken a paedophile ring in the Washington area which involved 'little league' games and the celebratory parties afterwards. Chris had already decided that his little son was not going to be playing in little league unless he had personally checked out every adult connected with the organisation. Carl and Tony understood the sentiment but they also pointed out that there were a lot of good normal people who gave up a lot of their time to organise group activities for children and they were quite innocent and up-standing citizens.

"It's the problem with this work," Tony said in the kitchen while getting coffee, "You deal with so much depravity that you can lose your sense of the norm."

"But you've managed to keep yours," Spencer replied respecting this experienced agent.

Tony smiled, "I was once a cop in New York, my first day on the beat in Washington Heights was eventful because we had to deal with a badly assaulted 8 year old girl. My experienced partner took me aside and said, 'I know you want to beat the crap out of the person who did this but you keep your cool and bring him to justice and let the prison system deal with him because that way we don't take the rap!' I didn't know which was the most appalling, knowing he was right about my natural feelings, but wanting to uphold the law, or his cynicism about what might happen to the offender in the prison system. We found it was a couple of juveniles who'd done it, 13 and 14, so they got sent to juvi. I decided not to worry about how they coped and I don't like to think how they eventually turned out but they were both from totally dysfunctional families…I hardened up pretty quickly and learnt to shut off from the cases by having a good off duty life. If it had been a difficult day…a good moan with the partner before heading home was the thing that kept me sane and it still does."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You don't want to take it home with you but knowing that your colleagues understand the work makes it all bearable. In effect we support each other."

"Exactly, we need happy off duty times so we can cope with this messy work."

Spencer had spent most of the morning quietly pondering upon the possibilities for the underlying cryptography of the Torte site. Danielle was equally quiet at her desk following up the men she had not so far traced from Nigel's material and there was now all the new stuff that Spencer had provided for her from his hacking. They were taking a break for lunch at their desks when the phone rang. Spencer reached to take the call, it was Dee with a call she had just fielded.

"Hello Spencer, I have a Detective Kenneth Dunbar from the Hagerstown P.D. He's got a missing baby and he's put out the Amber Alert but he wants to talk to one of us. Actually he asked to speak to Katie but I explained she's off sick. Anyway, he doesn't think that this feels like a normal case to him," she summarised.

"OK Dee, put him on," Spencer heard the electronic click and said,

"Dr. Spencer Reid, CACU, how can I help you Detective?"

"Dr. Reid, I'd like your opinion on a missing baby. I know usually when a new born goes missing its often a woman who's recently lost a child themselves, or a woman who desperately wants a child and can't for some reason. But this reminds me of another unsolved case we had about 20 years ago now…You see a young couple brought their new twins home yesterday and this morning just one, the girl, has been taken from the house. I don't think it's the parents killing one of the children either, I'm using my instincts here, sir. But this reminds me of the other case…that was just one twin being taken too and she was never found. The present parents are not related in any way to the other case…I'd really appreciate your help…"

"Of course, I'll come with a colleague immediately, where are you and do you remember the name of the parents in the old case so we can check records here?"

"Sure I'd never forget that, we still talk about it in these parts, Fairmen…Monica and Eric and they had named their daughters Laura and Karen. It was Laura who was taken from her cot just like little Eliza Corey. I'm ringing from the Hagerstown Police Department and the Corey's live in District 25 and seem a decent couple…"

After briefing Danielle about the case, Spencer asked Robert to find out all he could about the Fairmen abduction and he then thought about whom to take with him.

"Is Melanie in court soon?"

"No, the case she was on comes up at the end of the month…She would be a good choice," Danielle replied and Spencer smiled at her confirmation of his first choice.

Spencer headed across the bullpen to Melanie's desk. The agent's short blond hair looked even shorter than usual but it summed up her character, she was a no nonsense sort of woman with very good instincts and a compassion for victims. The mother of two daughters herself he would value her opinion on this case.

Melanie looked up as he approached and the smile that was beginning to emerge disappeared as she read his serious mood.

"A case?"

"Yeah, a new born twin has been abducted from her home on the outskirts of Hagerstown and the lead detective has particularly asked for us because it reminds him of another unsolved abduction some 20 years ago. I've got Robert digging out the details for us," he said, "I'd like you with me on this one,"

"Sure, I'll go get my coat…Do you want me to drive while you think?" she asked and Spencer nodded and turned backed to get his own coat. It had not taken the unit long to realise that it was best to let him think rather than drive on a case!

Ten minutes later, Melanie was happily driving them towards Hagerstown while Spencer was reading the material on the laptop that Robert had gathered together for him on the old case and as much as he knew about the Corey family.

"Shannon Corey is 26 and a secretary at the local FedEx office and her husband, Justin, 28, is an electrician on the staff of the Washington County Hospital where the twins were born on the 26th December. The Coreys' live in rented accommodation on the outskirts of the city, in District 25, not far from Interstate 81 and must be only a few miles from the state line," said Reid thoughtfully without looking up from the laptop, "The husband has worked for the hospital for nearly 5 years and the wife in the same office for 3 years."

"Sound a pretty stable pair then. How long have they been married?" asked Melanie trying to get a background sketch of the couple before meeting them.

"Mm… three years. Shannon worked in Frederick, before she married, at a small building company where Justin also worked for a time by the look of it…Ah, the company folded with the death of the owner so she moved to where her partner already had work."

"The twins are their only children then?"

"Yeah. Shannon's got an older married sister, who has her own children, they still live in Frederick and she cares for their sick mother in the family home. I can see why Detective Dunbar said this didn't feel right…it doesn't suggest a dysfunctional family, rather quite the opposite. Anyway, I said we would meet him at the Police Department in Hagerstown to introduce ourselves. I'd appreciate it if you'd handle the parents more while I talk to Kenneth Dunbar, he sounded the sort who wouldn't make a fuss unless he felt that things required stirring up."

In less than an hour the two agents were getting out of the standard black SUV and a tall broad shouldered bald man stepped out of the building to greet them. He looked to be in his late 40s and was dressed in a brown tweed jacket with brown pants, and cream shirt with a green tie. Melanie smiled to herself, she sensed that Reid and this man would have a lot in common if colour preference was anything to go by. The agents both knew from the way he walked confidently towards them that this was Kenneth Dunbar and the instant he firmly shook their hands the agents were aware of a caring and dedicated individual.

"Thank you for coming so quickly. So far we've had no sightings but the local radio and television stations for our area are broadcasting the alert along with the nearest states. I can't fault the inter-state take up on this. The area around the parent's home has been saturated with all the personnel we could muster but no one saw anything suspicious. We're conducting a ground search of the area at the moment but so far we've found nothing. The parents allowed us to search the home as soon as we got there, but again there was nothing suspicious. It's a difficult thing with a tiny baby like this, just 6 pounds when she left the hospital, and they change so quickly in the early weeks so the photos we have will quickly be useless."

"Yeah, well do I know it! I've got two girls of my own. But I'll go and try and see if I can pick up on anything unusual that may have happened. What puzzles me is that the baby was actually taken from the house, that implies some planning and not a totally impulsive act. Then there is also the oddity of the taking of just one child and the girl over the boy," said Melanie.

"You're doing all the correct things, Detective, being so close to the state line, and this place having such good road links, I would have alerted the surrounding states too. If it turns out to be a locally based incident then all well and good but it does no harm to think beyond the immediate in this situation." Reid assured and he wondered if the man had been criticised by others in the Department for over reacting.

"Yeah, well I was new to the force when there was that similar case 20 years ago but the chief didn't believe it was a that serious a case and thought the child would turn up locally. They had never had a baby go missing that wasn't found before so they thought that case would be like the others. But I've always thought that the Fairmen baby was taken across the state line and we wasted valuable time concentrating on Hagerstown itself. With this case, I'm worried because the Corey's live only a few minutes drive from Interstate 81," Dunbar replied shaking his head as if trying to get the failure of the original Fairmen case out of his mind. He suddenly looked up and into Melanie's penetrating grey eyes.

"You got in touch with us quickly, within the hour of the child going missing this time, Detective, and this time you're in charge of things here," Melanie said in her confident voice wanting to show that the CACU were behind him all the way.

Detective Dunbar nodded in appreciation of her supportive words and then became once more the capable law enforcement officer.

"I'll tell Detective Piggott that you're on your way…Bridget's been with me 8 years and a competent officer but not maternal, she's actually better with teenagers, so I'm grateful for your help and opinions of the Coreys. We're a bit thin on the ground with our female staff at the moment, two other women detectives are on maternity leave," the older man added. Melanie nodded to Spencer and turned back to continue on her way, leaving Spencer and the Detective to discuss the wider issues of this case and the past one.

Melanie found the house without any problems and the police car parked outside was a dead give away. Bridget Piggott appeared relieved to have another female to help and a woman who looked to be in her element when it came to young babies and distressed parents. Bridget had felt uncomfortable about this case because she was aware of her lack of empathy for mothers. She liked to think of herself as a career girl and had no intention of ever having children herself. She liked to work with the youth project in Hagerstown with the young teenagers.

Bridget appraised the CACU agent as she carefully got Shannon Corey to tell her what had happened. Poor woman hadn't stopped going over and over every detail since she had arrived with Dunbar. But Bridget had to admire this woman's expertise and gentleness, which hid the workings of a very sharp mind, as she probed for details like the experienced Dunbar had. Bridget Piggott now appreciated her superior even more for what he had achieved in a very short time from a very distressed woman and got the case moving. But even so Bridget suddenly realised that this agent had got the woman talking about the friend with whom she had been talking on the phone, during which time the baby had probably been taken. Someone had come to the back door and boldly walked into the house, gone to the bedroom where the babies lay sleeping and taken the girl. The kidnapper might be known to the couple because they knew where the twins would be. But then, Bridget argued with herself, it was a simple one storey layout so there wasn't much searching to do but the babies were in the back room near the kitchen. Bridget Piggott could imagine just how easy it had been… all too easy with the mother talking to her friend on the phone that was in the living room at the front of the house.

The parents were both relieved when Melanie explained that she had been called in from a specialist unit and they were there to help them find their daughter. Justin stared at this athletic confident woman and felt that she had more confidence in her little finger than the local police woman detective who had been with them for the past couple of hours. She also spoke about her colleague. who was a specialist FBI profiler, and that he was at that moment with Detective Dunbar but she was sure that he would come along himself soon.

Justin Corey had liked Detective Dunbar; he had acted very quickly after listening to the story Shannon had told him through her tears. Justin had rushed from work after he'd received Shannon's almost incoherent call and found Dunbar about to leave. However, Dunbar had briefly informed him that he'd set into action the Amber Alert and photographs and details of Eliza had already been rushed to the media along with the radio and televisions stations even outside the Maryland area. It gave Justin the impression that something was being done and that they were believed…although Justin himself was finding the whole situation difficult to take in. He went to make the newcomer a cup of coffee in the kitchen and she went to join him while Shannon took a call from her sister, Heather.

He fumbled with the mug but caught it just in time.

"Sorry, I can't believe it. I looked in on them before I left for work this morning and they were sleeping so peacefully. You know I had to go to work because I couldn't afford to take any time off and the hospital had made Shannon stay a few extra days because she was going to be coping on her own really. Her sister, she's got three children under five and she looks after their Mom too. Mom's got lung cancer…her own fault, been smoking since she was 10…she still does…well I suppose by now she thinks the damage has been done! But Heather's got her hands full back in Frederick. I mean why us? Who would want to do such a thing? That Detective Piggott said that often it's a woman who's distressed by losing her own child or desperately longs for one. The detective also said that often these people are usually informed on because their neighbours ring in and say that they hadn't noticed them pregnant or didn't know that they were adopting. I mean its difficult to find babies to adopt these days isn't it that's why people are going abroad if they want babies. But only people with money can do that sort of thing. I thought with the birth having to be registered that you couldn't get away with keeping a child illegally…" Justin rambled on trying to make sense in his own mind of the dramatic circumstances that had turned his newly happy world up side down.

Melanie listened sympathetically; her instincts had told her as soon as she had listened to the distressed mother that this was not the cover up of a cot death by frightened parents. It was not the murder of an unwanted child either, these two parents were both in a traumatised state and Shannon needed baby Michael in her line of sight at all times for fear that he too might suddenly disappear like his sister.

Melanie and Justin sat at the small round kitchen table each clutching a mug. In Justin's case the very warmth of the coffee reminded him that he was still alive even if he was feeling a strange sense of icy foreboding that clung to him like an invisible shroud.

Back in Hagerstown Police Department, the more Spencer Reid listened to Kenneth Dunbar the more he felt that the man's instincts were strong.

End of Chapter 13.

Author's Note. I am experiencing a difficult personal time at the moment; two dear friends are in poor health and my elderly mother is just clinging to life and is expected to die any day. Although I hope to post the next chapter for Christmas Eve my apologies now if circumstances delay the typing up and editing process.


	14. Chapter 14

**The Interregnum: Chapter 14**

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**Author's Note: My mother, Kathleen Annette Crossley, died on December 17****th**** 2008 and her funeral took place on December 29****th****. Thank you for the kind messages I received when I indicated at the end of the last chapter that there might be a delay with the next. There are still things to sort out concerning my mother's estate and these things take time but I eventually got back to this present chapter. It has turned out to be a long one as I didn't want to break the flow of the action and I hope that readers do not find it too wordy!**

Melanie excused herself for a few minutes when Shannon called for Justin to go and speak to Mom on the phone. She went and stood in the empty babies' room and closed the door. Taking out her cell she 'speed' dialled her colleague.

"Spencer, these parents are genuine. What I don't like is the fact that someone came through the back way and took the girl. Anyway, I did what you asked and got Shannon talking about the phone call she had before discovering Eliza was missing. She was talking to another new mother she'd met at the hospital antenatal appointments but she gave birth in the week before her. Her name is Sandra Brady and is a first time single Mom who was originally from Frederick like herself. She really liked her and they have since met up a few times for coffee and Sandra had visited this house before her own daughter was born. Sandra's Mom also dropped off a gift for the twins yesterday as she was passing on her way home…I think she lives Chambersburg way."

Spencer listened carefully to all his colleague was saying and his mind began to make leaps and form ideas which he wanted to explore because they had possibilities.

" Dunbar provided me with a list of the other women who were pregnant and attended the hospital for appointments around the same time and those that were in hospital with Shannon post birth. It's obviously someone who knows Shannon and her routine and may have even visited the house before the birth so knows the lay out. That's why I wanted you to get her to tell you about the call she had in the morning. Can you get her also talking about the friends who have been over to see her before the birth? Dunbar is already checking the nursing staff because they had a higher number of agency people covering because of sickness and those who have taken their holidays."

"Holidays?"

"Apparently a few of the maternity staff are avid skiers and take off for the slopes this time of year and have done for the past four years…"

"Rather them than me, I've never liked winter sports," replied Melanie thinking of her own planned vacation with her daughters for Disney in Florida in June.

"Do you have any feelings about this after talking to Dunbar?" continued Melanie sensing that Reid was not being totally open with her but then it was difficult when she was in the Corey house.

"Yeah, but I've got Robert checking that at the moment. It was something that Dunbar had said about the old case…similar M.O…"

"Ah…How similar?"

"Child taken during daytime when only one parent was at home…Child was only discovered missing when the brother began to cry to be fed…before that the mother had several telephone calls. The police eventually contacted everyone who had called Monica Fairmen but concluded that they were all innocent."

"So you're checking out Sandra Brady?" probed Melanie.

"That's what Robert's doing right now because Ms. Brady is 40 and had presented herself to the other mothers as a first time mother but her medical insurance records show that she has claimed for three pregnancies…all of which I suspect were put up for adoption. But I'm waiting for Robert to get back to me with all the information he has on Brady. However, I don't want to get the Corey's suspicious because she may be innocent and just acting as a surrogate but hasn't told anyone…Sometimes these women like to keep very quiet about their activities because other women are not very tolerant of the idea if its not immediate family."

"Right…although actually if I'd found I couldn't have children I would've rather used a woman outside the family rather than a female relative…I think that sort of thing can cause other problems within a family once the baby is born…"

"I'll take you word for it Melanie as it's not something that has touched me personally so I've never really had to consider it in any depth. I just remember watching a documentary about surrogacy and how some people were appalled about it while others were very understanding…Mmm…Here comes Detective Dunbar, get back to me when you can."

Spencer Reid turned his full attention on the approaching older man.

"All the agency staff check out. They have all been used for a few years by the Hospital and the agency has a good name and rigorously checks its people. We did our own checks and they all seem normal hardworking women…incidentally all of them have their own children and are working to help with the children's college fees. Was that your colleague?"

"Yes, it seems that besides an earlier phone call at ten, by her sister, the only other person to call was Sandra Brady and she had told her that she originally came from Frederick too. I've got my people checking on her and the other pregnant women from that list you gave me but it seems that she wasn't totally truthful with Shannon…"

"Oh?"

"She's 40 and had told Shannon that this was her first pregnancy but Robert told me that she had already had other claims on her medical insurance for three other pregnancies that's why he's digging deeper…She may be a surrogate mother who didn't want to advertise the fact. Or a woman who has a child when she needs the money and puts the baby up for private adoption and pockets extra money by private arrangement so the courts don't know what's really happening financially."

"There are supposed to be guide lines about paying the medical expenses for the pregnant mother and to cover loss of earnings. I know that some families get so desperate for a child that they will agree to anything, so I can well believe your scenario of extra payments that are undisclosed." Dunbar replied with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I think I would like to visit Ms Brady, I don't think her lie to Shannon sits well with me. We can always say truthfully that we are interviewing all the women who had come into contact with Shannon Corey at the hospital. As Shannon was on the phone with her before she discovered Eliza was missing, we've naturally come to see her as one of the first."

Dunbar eyed the young man. He looked more like an academic and would have thought him to be a university professor had he not known he had come from the CACU. When young Launder had heard the name he had spoken enthusiastically about a recent book he had read by the agent who normally worked with the BAU. Watching him now he could understand his secondment to another unit; Dunbar reckoned that he was being given wider experience so he could take on more responsibility. The experienced Detective nodded in understanding,

"You want to get going now?"

"I'd appreciate your company," Reid replied softly with a smile.

Dunbar liked him, the two CACU people had slipped into the investigation smoothly and those at the Headquarters were impressed with this man's quiet and diplomatic approach. Dr. Reid had shown a willingness to praise their efforts and emphasised right from the start that the CACU were only there to assist in finding the missing baby. He had made a point of saying to the staff in the operations room that they were the local force with all the knowledge that would be important to find the child. It had all made the Hagerstown police feel valued. The Chief of Police, who had over heard Dr. Reid, gave Dunbar his nod of approval for calling the CACU in. The two men were now in Kenneth Dunbar's car heading north-east out of the centre of Hagerstown.

"This is a reasonable district, did you say that she's living with her mother?" the Detective asked the slender man who was watching the scenery.

"Yes, she has been living with her for the past three months, she told the agency where she worked that she couldn't afford to keep the apartment in Philadelphia because offices didn't want to employ pregnant temporary staff. Robert discovered that she owns the apartment in that city and she has let it out on a short-term contract while she was away,"

"So another lie?"

"Appears so, or she just may be covering up that she really is having a surrogate baby and her previous pregnancies paid for her apartment. It's a difficult situation for a woman …I can imagine some people feeling uncomfortable if they found out that she was using her body deliberately to provide an extra income. They can easily condemn outright prostitution but surrogacy? It raises other issues…and women don't forgive their own sex very easily."

"Yeah, they can be right bitches if they take against another woman…."

"Exactly, but we will just have to see what she has to say for her self," Reid remarked reasonably, "We might be going in the wrong direction but I want to settle this in my own mind otherwise I will worry that I didn't check it out properly."

Dunbar smiled, he thought that this man had good instincts and enjoyed his company.

"You got any children?" he suddenly asked Reid.

"No…I…I only got married at Christmas and Jo and I are still enjoying the married bit!"

Dunbar chuckled and shook his head, "Me, I've been married twice. I married Anne when I was 23 and we had two girls, then Anne died of cancer at 30. I married my present lady, Georgia, when I was 38 and she has been a wonderful mother to Erin and Lara and we have two sons as well. The house is always full of people, I tell you when they all finally leave we won't know what to do with ourselves!"

Reid's cell sounded and the agent answered, listening to Robert.

"Robert I'm with Detective Dunbar and in his car en route to see Ms Brady, if I put you on speaker you can save me repeating your information."

"Sure, Spencer, Ms Brady is quite interesting. She is the only child of Ann-Marie Brown who divorced her gambling and alcoholic husband when Sandra was one. John Philips Brown died of liver disease 3 years later. Sandra was an able pupil but rebellious and was expelled from her private girls school for becoming pregnant at 17. She went to live at her grandmother's house in Frederick while her mother continued to work in Newark as a legal secretary. The baby, a boy, was adopted privately when he was a week old in Baltimore and Sandra Brown was adamant that she didn't want any contact with the child and refused even to write a letter to be held for the child for when he got older. She had her medical bills for the pregnancy paid for by the adopting couple and they also made a donation towards the mother's future college expenses, which the court thought a generous gesture and the court administered the money. This enabled Sandra to gain secretarial qualifications and she became a legal secretary like her mother. She's been married twice so as been known as Sandra Brady and Sandra Krystan at various times over the years and looks as if she has had more than one baby adopted."

"I can see that she was already gaining experience of the adoption scene," remarked Dunbar softly as he concentrated on the road.

"Oh yes, she next turns up in Albany, New York State working for a law firm but left when she became pregnant and returned to stay with her grandmother in Frederick again…No man in tow and another adoption when she was 20….But what I find interesting is that her mother, Ann-Marie, was by this time living with Sandra's aunt, a Ann-Maria Yeggar, in Mercersburg, just inside Pennsylvania and working in Chambersburg. Mother inherited her sister's house and still lives there although she now has given up work. But Ann-Marie also inherited her mother's home in Frederick and that is normally rented out. Ann-Marie has since also a bought the house in Hagerstown with money she inherited from her sister, the same Ann-Maria Yeggar, and that is also usually rented out too. But I think this is where Brady has been staying this time because it has been vacant while being refurbished and it looks like Ms Brady has been in occupation during the last four months of her pregnancy."

Reid glanced across at the Dunbar who had a satisfied smile on his face.

"It could be pure co-incidence," said Spencer evenly as he sensed that the older man's imagination was running full pelt like his own.

"Of course, but just allow me a few minutes of speculation here…I liked the Fairmen family, they've had two more children, both boys, but they have never forgotten Laura," he replied and Spencer wondered at the sort of emotional pain an abducted baby could inflict. He knew the love he had witnessed watching Craig and Melinda with their two children and couldn't begin to imagine how they would feel if anything happened to Lydia and Ben.

"Can I go on?" Robert asked as the men seemed very quiet.

"Yeah, 'course we were just getting excited about these apparent links with the area."

"Oh, I don't blame you and it gets better… because 20 years ago Sandra did a little temping while pregnant in Hagerstown, just 6 weeks to cover sickness but it was at the same company that employed Monica Fairmen…"

"Now that's a co-incidence and some…" remarked Dunbar who felt his heart thump inside his chest at the possibilities racing in his mind.

"So where was this baby adopted?" asked Spencer.

"Another private adoption presented at the family court in Baltimore again. The baby girl was two weeks old this time and the agreement by both parties was that the mother was to have no contact. The Judge noted that the mother just wanted the girl brought up as the couple's daughter and wanted nothing more to do with her or them."

"When was this baby born?" Dunbar asked as curiosity got the better of him.

"November 21st. 1988 and Laura Fairmen was born on November24th. 1988…" Robert's voice seemed to fill the car.

"Right, lets not jump to hasty conclusions," Spencer interjected, "Robert, I also want you to check birth registrations outside Maryland for a daughter born to Sandra at this time…Check first Pennsylvania, then try Washington DC, and Delaware. The only way I can see that she could have worked this was to pretend to have one baby at the aunt's home because its close enough to easily divide your time between the two. But when you register a home birth you have to have collaborating evidence…like ante-natal records or people prepared to state they have seen you heavily pregnant. Then I want you to check, or if Chris is back to save time, all adoptions from November 26th 1988 in Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Delaware…looking for Sandra Brown or Sandra Philips Brown as the biological mother and giving up a daughter for a private adoption."

"I'm following your reasoning Spencer, I'm on to it…I'll download everything else I've found onto your laptop…"

Spencer switched the machine on and waited for the material to be sent.

"Robert's very good at his job, he's found out quite a lot about Sandra Brady's financial background…" he said to Dunbar who pulled into the side of the road so they could discuss the latest turn in events. Spencer read quickly and summarised for the older man.

"Sandra Brown married Timothy Brady, a lawyer, when she was 22 but it only lasted a couple of years although she got a very good divorce settlement and invested her settlement money in property in Florida. She rents out three family homes not far from the Disney complex and they seem to be occupied virtually all year. It's all legit…she uses an approved agency and pays all her taxes on the income. Then she made a second marriage to Stefan Krystan when she was 25 but he died just over a year later from a hang-gliding accident. Sandra got a nice little sum from his life insurance. Again she invested it, bought the apartment in Philadelphia and another small apartment in Florida that is rented out…This time in Miami; it's all done through a legal agency again. So this lady has money but she lives very frugally and has a healthy savings bank balance but doesn't touch it. Sandra seems to live off her current account which just seems to hold the money she has earned through her secretarial temping. Interesting she has several savings accounts in different states, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and Connecticut. Add them all up and this woman doesn't need to work she could live quite comfortably off the interest…along with her rental income she's got a total income of over 150,000 a year so why the temping? …Unless she likes to do something with her time."

"How do you want to handle this. Do you want to wait for more information or shall we go to see Sandra as originally planned?" Kenneth Dunbar asked but he was feeling a surge of excitement at how events had suddenly turned.

Spencer thought for a few moments, they had a baby to find and he wanted to do that for the parents and yet he also wanted to try and keep an open mind.

"We mustn't jump to conclusions…she may be acting as a surrogate and keeping things quiet like I originally thought, but there are these co-incidences and if they begin to take a firmer shape we've got to be ready. I'm going to ask Danielle, the more experienced deputy who is managing the unit at the moment, to send a couple of agents to check out Sarah Brady's mothers address in Mercersburg on the pretext of another totally unrelated case. Can you call up a couple of reliable detectives to keep an eye on Sandra Brady in case we scare her into making a move after we've interviewed her."

"No problem, I'll get Launder…he's read your book, you know, and his partner, Gershwin...no relation to the composer..."Dunbar replied taking out his own cell phone.

Spencer smiled, it was a difficult situation but if they were onto the correct line of enquiry they didn't want to jeopardise the babies innocently caught up in it. After the call, Dunbar started the car again and they were soon in a pleasant suburb outside a small house that looked cared for. There was a neat front lawn and by the front door there was a large bulbous earthenware pot containing a tiny leafed shrub, that looked like a small escallonia plant, to add a bit of interest against the painted wood of the porch.

Kenneth Dunbar smiled at Reid with the confidence of a man who enjoyed his work and sensed that this particular lady had to provide some convincing answers to some nagging questions. He pressed the doorbell decisively and they waited for a couple of minutes before the smartly painted poppy red door swung open.

Standing peering at them with pale blue eyes was a well-groomed woman with shoulder length straight strawberry blond hair. Reid thought how similar in colouring she was to Hayley Hotchner although she was taller and could easily look him in the eye.

"Sandra Brady?" Kenneth Dunbar politely asked with a soft voice and smiled to reassure the woman who looked unsure at the two strangers and then she noticed that Dunbar was raising his ID.

"I'm Detective Kenneth Dunbar of the Hagerstown Police Department and this is Dr. Spencer Reid from the Crimes Against Children Unit…We understand that you were speaking to Shannon Corey on the phone before she discovered that her daughter was missing…"

Her face registered the reason for this unexpected call and she stepped back being less defensive than she had at first been.

"Oh yes, of course, I did ring to see how she was getting on with the twins now that she's finally home. She had told me that her husband was going to have to go back to work today and needed to get in as much overtime as offered to pay for the twins…They are a nice couple but having twins has been an expensive business for them. Would you like to come in, it's a bit chilly to be standing at the open door?"

"Thank you Ma'm, I'm sure that you appreciate that we need to speak to all those who have been in touch with Shannon Corey this morning. I understand that the two of you seem to have struck up a friendship during your time awaiting the birth of your babies." said Dunbar conversationally.

"Yes, come and sit down, would you like a drink of coffee?" she offered as she led the way in to the front sitting room.

Spencer smiled and couldn't resist, "That would be most welcome if you have the time," he said turning on the soft charm that he knew he possessed. It was what Margaret Petersen liked to call his 'Jimmy Stewart' act and others had noticed it before he had met the formidable Margaret.

Sandra turned towards the small but neatly equipped kitchen to prepare some coffee and the men immediately scanned the room with their experienced eyes. The sitting room was again neat and tastefully furnished, all medium priced to fit snugly into this 1950's house that had been renovated recently from the style of the light fitments and satin finish metal socket covers. The paintwork all looked to be in pristine order and everything was neutral to blend into the style of any accessories that the inhabitant might bring to the dwelling. There were no personal photographs anywhere in the room but there was a large plain glass vase of deep crimson chrysanthemums on the square smoky glass topped coffee table. The two men's eyes met and each briefly noted the others amusement at their professional scrutiny and then the serious nature of the case surfaced.

"No photographs," whispered Dunbar.

"No sign of a baby," Reid whispered back and Dunbar nodded in agreement. Spencer thought it odd; babies came with paraphernalia…lots of baby clothes, little soft and fluffy toys along with baby equipment like bottles, shawls, the essential packs of diapers, carrycots or moses baskets and special car seats. But he could see none in this room. Perhaps she was one of those women who liked to keep one room tidy in case of visitors but there had been no indication that there was a baby in the house; not in the entrance hall or on the stairs nor of what they could see of the kitchen. It was all too pristinely neutral and tidy. Rather like one of Jo's show apartments, there was just enough to give the impression of how a person could live in this house, but at least with Jo's show apartments she always put in some stunning accessories to bring out a feature and show possibilities of a life style.

"Here we are gentlemen, " Sandra came back in with three elegant china mugs on a black lacquered rectangular tray. They were soft white china with a delicate mimosa flower on the side…very feminine and expensive and not really what the men had been expecting.

She sat opposite them in the comfortable looking beige chenille covered easy chair while the men sat on the low cream linen covered sofa; the coffee table acted as the no-man's land between them. Sandra Brady sat calmly holding her china mug and sipped the dark contents delicately; to Reid she was trying to give the impression that she was far too good for this house.

"Ms Brady…er what have you called your baby?" Dunbar asked out of curiosity.

"Tegan," she crisply replied but didn't seem willing to add any other details. Spencer watched her and thought that she didn't look like most of the new mothers he had come across. Sandra Brady was beautifully dressed in her navy tailored pants and peacock blue cashmere sweater. The blue emphasised her eyes but to Reid there was an aura of coldness to this woman's style despite the beauty of the blue she wore near her face. The profiler concluded that there was a neat detachment about her. He thought of the warmth of Melinda and the maternal roundness of those early weeks after giving birth to Ben. Melinda had at that time seemed to have hair that was often slighted mussed, and she had looked tired because of demand feeding and her clothes didn't fit as comfortably as the pre-pregnancy days. Over the next few months she naturally regained her figure with breastfeeding and yet to Craig she was as beautiful as ever because she was the mother of his children. That was it, Reid mused to himself, you really wouldn't know that this woman had given birth a week ago, even her make up was immaculate but it couldn't disguise the fact that she was 40 not 30.

"She's very quiet," Dunbar suddenly stated.

The woman smiled slightly before replying, "Asleep, she has a good pair of lungs but I'm not sure that I will keep her…You see her father didn't want to know once he realised that I was carrying a girl. He already had two daughters and he might have left his wife if I had the son…but such is life. I don't really have much luck with men, I didn't realise he was already married until I was hopelessly in love with him. I'm 40 gentlemen and I'd not planned the pregnancy but I thought I'd carry on with it in case I felt I could be a mother for her. But to be honest, these last few days have made me realise that I enjoy my sense of freedom far too much. I'm thinking about putting her up for private adoption that way I will recoup my medical fees, and Tegan will probably have a happier life with two parents who want her rather than a resentful mother who feels tied by the responsibility for her. My own mother fortunately understands my feelings…"

"Because you've done this before," Spencer smoothly stated taking a firm control of the conversation.

"Yes, I was stupid enough to get pregnant while at school. Mom was furious with me because she struggled to pay the fees of an excellent school but I was the rebellious type. It all worked out in the end…The baby was adopted after a week or so and the grateful parents paid the medical fees and made a donation, through the courts, for my future education. It was perfect, the court made sure that the money was spent on my college fees and I trained to be a legal secretary like my Mom…I've never looked back and hope that the babe and parents have enjoyed their little family set up. Do you understand?" she coolly asked and her pale blue eyes sparkled into life challenging these two men not to condemn her actions.

"I think you were very sensible," Dr. Reid replied, "Not all women are meant to be mothers and fortunately you were wise enough to recognise this and I'm sure that your son has had the best start in life. Especially after the experience of your own childhood…you're an only child aren't you?"

Sandra Brady's eyes flashed, she had under-estimated these two and they had obviously done their homework into her background and she didn't want to get into any talk about her own upbringing. She took another measured sip of her coffee but Spencer Reid's eyes never left her face. He felt there was something that was very cunning about this woman, she plotted her moves carefully and she would not walk blindly into any simple trap that they might set. Her behaviour merely confirmed his gut feeling that this calculating woman needed to be watched and they had to be sure about their facts with her legal background.

"So you found the occasional pregnancy an easy way to earn a little extra money," he firmly delved again with his soft unthreatening voice.

Sandra decided that he deserved a more straight answer and something nearer the truth might unsettle the pair.

"The pregnancies never worried me and usually there was already a waiting list of eager adopters…I have always felt that I've given childless couples a lifetime of happiness and if they generously paid my medical expenses then that was only right. They have all been legally adopted through the proper channels…and like I said, I feel that I have given others happiness." she answered in her own soft cool voice.

"I'm sure that your altruism over the years has been much appreciated as I understand that healthy babies put up for adoption are quite rare, which is why so many couples go to extraordinary lengths to adopt from abroad." Reid replied evenly and Dunbar marvelled at the younger man's even temper. He was sure at his age he would have shown his disgust at this woman's behaviour but there again, at Reid's age he was already a father and parenthood tends to alter your perspective on such things.

"So how many children have you had over the years and provided childless couples with precious bundles of human potential," Spencer asked calmly and felt an inner satisfaction when he noticed a momentary flash of her blue eyes. He thought that he rarely baited women in this manner but part of him was enjoying this particular encounter.

Sandra Brady unconsciously straightened her back as if it gave her more resolve and authority; she breathed evenly to control the anger that was rising against this young man who didn't look old enough to be serving in a law enforcement agency. She calmly placed her china mug back on the tray and met the man's puppy dog eyes.

"I have had eight pregnancies if I include this present child, all the babies were healthy and adopted legally gentlemen…This present one was a definite mistake and if it had been a son… I'm sure the father would have stood by me but not for a daughter. When I look at Tegan all I see is her father who didn't want me or her…I think it would be better for me to have her adopted too."

"Were the other pregnancies all unplanned too?" Dunbar asked.

"Like I said…I seem to choose the wrong men and I seem to be able to get pregnant even when on the pill. It's ironic when there are women who want to be pregnant and pay thousands for infertility treatments and some never achieve the very state that I have no problem in attaining. I even have straight forward pregnancies and easy births, just a few hours of discomfort even with the first, and this last time an hour's labour…For me its just like 'shelling peas' as Granny used to say."

Spencer schooled himself to keep a neutral countenance but he really didn't like this woman. Reid dared not look at Dunbar who he saw was less controlled than himself as he noticed that the Detective was tightly gripping the china mug despite it being empty.

"Were all the children adopted in Maryland?" Reid asked to get as much information about her activities as possible.

"No, the first two were…"

"At what age were you and where were the babies adopted?" Reid continued his probing and noticed that Dunbar had got his notebook out to write down the facts and give his mind something to concentrate on besides this cold-hearted female.

"Is this necessary?" she asked with annoyance tainting her controlled voice.

"Yes, we have to check your story and that includes your background. You have already told us that you have a history of pregnancies that have all ended in adoption…" Reid continued.

"But how is that relevant to Shannon Corey's missing baby?" Brady countered.

"We are eliminating you from our enquiries, Ms Brady. You can refuse to answer my questions but then that will just make us suspicious and the FBI will start looking into your life…." Spencer felt a certain twinge of satisfaction when he saw this woman's eyes again flash with anger.

She thought for a few moments and then began to recall in a studied vague manner,

"I was 17 when the boy was adopted through the Baltimore Family Court, I think that was in the May. The second, a girl was adopted through the same court when I was 20…November time…a week after the birth I think. I was 25 when I had another and she was adopted in Albany, sometime in February. I was living in Pennsylvania when I had another girl, at 28, and the father didn't want to know…She was adopted in Pittsburgh, in the July, under the name of Brady. When I was 32 I had a boy but I discovered Daddy already had a string of cast-off wives and unwanted children…I had a lucky escape and that one was adopted in Richmond, Virginia, mmm February or perhaps it was March.

Now lets see…The next one was when I was 34, in the January, and another female. I had been fitted with a coil but I still conceived…That was when I was working in Connecticut, at Yale as a departmental secretary. The father didn't want to know again…I wasn't from the right background so he left for Europe and I was left with another unwanted pregnancy. That girl was adopted in Hartford. I then went and worked in Delaware and the last boy was adopted in Wilmington, December time, when I was 37. I really didn't think I would have any more…I kept thinking that perhaps I ought to take a friend's advice and be sterilised but I really don't like operations…I've always given birth naturally and easily but the thought of an operation …even having that coil fitted was uncomfortable. I did have all the tests available to make sure that this baby was healthy because of my age, but if any of the scans for the others had indicated something wrong then I would have had a termination. I don't see any reason for bringing a damaged child into this world and they would have been harder to find suitable adoptive parents. The wealthy childless want perfectly healthy babies and so far I've been lucky to have only given birth to healthy kids. Well now, that brings us up to date. I'll probably keep Tegan a few more days. I've contacted a private agency to see if they had any suitable parents…Girls are more popular than boys to get rid of you know…It must be something about being able to dress them up and parents thinking they are easier to handle…."

Suddenly the coolness of the room was disturbed by the cry of a young baby and both men straightened at the sound.

"I told you that Tegan has a good pair of lungs…Would you like to see her?"

"Yes, I would. I like children and have four myself," Dunbar replied firmly and he was determined to see that the baby was all right before he left this house.

Sandra rose and made her way towards the stairs.

"I am thankful to have married maternal women," Dunbar muttered softly to Reid.

Spencer nodded in understanding.

"My Jo comes from a warm family and her sister-in-law is a lovely maternal woman and as for my mother in law…you would like all three of them."

"And your own Mom?" asked Dunbar out of curiosity.

"Brilliant academic but not the maternal type," Spencer softly replied. Kenneth Dunbar stared at the young man and he wondered what had happened to this sensitive and compassionate man. It was strange but the agent looked so young and yet when he spoke, and his assessment of people and situations, he seemed ancient in his understanding. Dunbar couldn't shake Reid's admission from his thoughts as Sandra Brady re-entered the room carrying an apparently bald infant dressed in a pink all-in-one stretch suit, with a tiny embroidered daisy motif on the collar, and wrapped loosely in a white crocheted shawl.

"It's about time for her bottle. Would one of you like to hold her while I get it?" the biological mother challenged.

Kenneth Dunbar smoothly stepped forward and confidently took the tiny individual from her arms. Reid stared neutrally at Brady as she raised an elegantly plucked eyebrow at him and her mouth held the traces of a contained smirk. The blue eyes were unfriendly and he held her gaze with his own steady scrutiny; he was not going to let this woman unsettle him. Sandra Brady turned away and headed for the kitchen and Spencer tuned in to the detective who was having his own one-sided conversation.

"Well, hello Tegan. You've a very unusual name but you're a very fine little lady. Did you get bored on your own when you heard voices? Of course you did because you felt that it was about time you had some attention and you were beginning to feel a little hungry…" Dunbar said softly to her and his whole body seemed to cradle the baby protectively to the observant Reid. The detective looked up as he sensed the other man's scrutiny but he found himself looking into the softened features of the tall and very slender man.

"You are in your element," Spencer said lightly and smiled.

"Sure am…It's a big responsibility being a parent but I'm glad I've got my kids…"

"Yes, I can tell and this little one is a beauty," Reid replied and stepped forward to place his left bony little finger into her tiny hand. Tegan grasped it and Reid felt the warmth of the baby's touch that was such a contrast to the woman who had given birth to her. Seeing her so closely now he could see that she wasn't actually bald but had a very fine down of almost white blond hair. Tegan's eyes' were a deep blue and Reid wondered if they would darken over the next few weeks. He always considered it one of those almost magical facts of life where some babies blue eyes changed in those early weeks. He was still amazed at the early baby photos of both Lydia and Ben who now had the darker eyes of their father but in those early days they had been strangely blue.

Sandra Brady returned with a bottle of formula and sat herself on the easy chair. Dunbar went and placed the baby in her arms.

"Well gentlemen, is there anything else I can help you with?" she asked in a tone that implied they were being dismissed.

"Not at the moment," Reid smoothly replied, "Don't worry yourself, we'll see ourselves out."

The two men walked in silence back to the car and didn't speak again until they were fastening their seat belts.

"Jeez…Little Tegan is worthy of someone better than her!" Dunbar burst out as he turned the ignition on.

"Yeah…Lets get moving and once out of this road I'll call in and make sure Robert does a thorough search into that woman and her family, particularly the mother. I bet that private school had been a boarding establishment and mother was busy with her own life! I'd like to visit the Corey's now if you don't mind."

"No problem…You got that feeling too ugh?" Dunbar stated.

"My alarm bells are ringing. I was hoping that Sandra Brady was just keeping her surrogacy activities quiet but I sensed there is something more to this She was being too controlled and I just felt that she's hiding something more and she seemed to be baiting me. How about you?"

"Yeah, she was so calm about telling us that she has had 8 babies and 7 have already been legally adopted…" Dunbar muttered as Reid speed dialled Robert.

Reid informed Robert of the information that Brady had given about her activities in different states. He further instructed Robert, and Chris who had joined him to help, to check for any missing new-borns in surrounding areas where Sandra Brady gave birth…Starting with instances where only one twin was taken and the same sex as the child Brady had legally given up for adoption.

Kenneth Dunbar listened in to Reid's instructions but waited until he had finished the call before he spoke.

"Just settling this in your own mind or you really feel there is something more?"

"If she really got to know Monica Fairmen, like Shannon Corey, then I will be very suspicious but I don't want to leap in and start raking over painful memories for the Fairmens'…Do you still have records from that case?"

"It was unsolved so we should still have them in the basement…You want us to see if Sandra Brown, as she would have been then, was interviewed as a contact of Monica Fairmen?"

Reid nodded, "Just to settle my curiosity…Of course it maybe that this woman has just annoyed the pair of us with her cavalier attitude to motherhood. But it was an interesting co-incidence that she worked briefly at the same place as Monica Fairmen…" Reid replied mildly but his mind was working overtime and he hoped that the agents checking out Ann-Marie Brown were going to get back to him soon.

Kenneth Dunbar parked his car behind Melanie's SUV, the Hagerstown policeman on duty outside the house acknowledged the detective and the agent. The road had been blocked off to stop the media getting anywhere near the Corey home so that they didn't feel besieged. But cameras had flashed as officers moved the barrier so that Dunbar's vehicle could pass and a television mobile unit was on site and a cameraman almost got knocked down in his eagerness to get some footage for the news. The media had been firmly told at Headquarters that they would be kept informed of developments and neither of these men were going to jeopardise this case with their speculations to outsiders at that moment.

Melanie saw their arrival and told the Coreys and Detective Piggott that her colleague had come with Detective Dunbar. She opened the door for them and Dunbar introduced the couple to Dr. Reid who shook Justin Corey's hand firmly and gently took Shannon's and asked her to sit with them for a few minutes.

"I thought you'd be older," Justin blurted out and then felt embarrassed, "Sorry…"

Reid smiled, "It's all right that's what people usually think…even Melanie here and she'll tell you that the other agents in the office thought that too when they first met me. But I wanted to come and meet you both to tell you that there are agents following leads but I don't want to say things to raise false hopes because it may just lead to people being eliminated from this enquiry."

"But you're hopeful?" Shannon asked turning her red puffy eyes on him and part of Spencer felt an urge to reach out and hug her but knew that he couldn't and needed to keep his own professionalism firmly in place.

"Yes, I am hopeful, I'm sure that Eliza has not been harmed. Abducted babies are not usually harmed," he emphasised softly and looked at her rounded body and crumpled appearance…This was a real caring mother not like the one they had just left.

There was a whimpering from the carrycot at the end of the room and Shannon jumped up to go to her son.

"I'm sorry but she's very on edge right now …we both are you know…" Justin tried to explain his wife's rudeness with a guest.

"It's all right, we all understand here… Can I see little Michael" Reid asked in an upbeat tone and Melanie thought what a softie the deputy was and saw Justin smile through his distress. Shannon came over to the sofa, where Reid was sitting, carrying the baby protectively. Spencer Reid surprised himself as he reached out and asked tentatively, "May I?"

Shannon fought back tears as she placed her son into his waiting arms and Spencer peered down into the second round faced, sweet smelling baby of that afternoon.

"I feel very honoured to meet you, Michael," he said gently as he cradled him in his arms with both the parents hovering over him, "There are a lot of people trying to find your little sister and I'm sure that you are missing her too. We want to bring her back home as soon as we can so you can be a whole family again," the baby scrunched up his face as if deep in thought and then seemed to yawn, "Oh I see, I've tired you out already. My niece tells me that I talk too much sometimes too…"

Melanie couldn't help grinning and she noticed that this simple act of holding this precious child had also forged a link with Justin and Shannon and both of them smiled at the young man's warmth and gentleness with their son.

"Do you have any children?" Shannon suddenly asked weakly smiling at him.

"No, but we hope one day to have a family," he replied simply and it suddenly struck him how Jo and he had not really talked deeply about such things but they had just accepted it as a natural course of their relationship that one day they would want children. He didn't want an only child…he'd not enjoyed being an only child.

"You should, you're very gentle with Michael…You have a niece you said?" Shannon probed feeling the need to know a little more about this agent from a special agency and someone that Melanie had praised for his abilities.

"Yes, Lydia, and she has a little brother too. I was given Ben to hold when he was a couple of days old and I was terrified at first but I gained in confidence as his sister told me how to do things properly…Lydia is a forceful little lady and likes things to be done properly!"

"Oh yeah…we've a niece like that too," Justin said with laughter in his voice and Melanie was pleased that Spencer had managed to bring some good memories to the surface for this couple.

The good mood of the room was suddenly disturbed by the sound of Reid's cell phone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll have to hand you back to your Mommy and take this call outside," he said smoothly and Dunbar watched him as he gently handed back the baby and strode toward the door. He glanced at Dunbar as he passed, signalling the detective to join him and they stood together a little way down the path from the front door.

Danielle's voice sounded both excited and controlled at the same time, "Spencer, Amanda and Colleen called at the Mercersburg house…It's on the outskirts and quite detached from other houses down its own little road. They heard a baby crying as they talked to Mrs Brown; they had a story about a missing 'conman' thought to be living in the area. They said that other local people had told them that she had rental property and perhaps she had been approached for accommodation…Anyway, Mrs Brown told them that the baby was her granddaughter and she was looking after her while her daughter looked for more suitable housing back in Philadelphia…."

"And this was when?"

"Five minutes ago…."

Reid noticed that Dunbar was already checking with Launder and Gershwin, and turned to Spencer and whispered, "Tegan and 'Mommy Dearest' are still at the Hagerstown house."

"Give us the directions and we'll meet Colleen and Amanda there…Tell them to keep Mrs Brown under surveillance."

"How long do you think it will take us?" Reid asked Dunbar.

"Thirty minutes with lights," Dunbar replied crisply and grinned.

"I'll go and tell the Coreys and Melanie that we have a lead to follow up and we'll keep them informed," Reid said as he turned back to the house.

Melanie had been watching from the window and knew that things were moving from the change in her colleague's stance. He strode purposely back into the house.

"We have to go and check a possible lead but I'll keep you both informed through Melanie who will stay with you for the next few hours," he told the worried couple but they too had picked up that something was happening.

"Can you tell us anything more?" Justin asked.

"I'm sorry I can't because I don't know where this is going and it might be no where as we just eliminate someone from our enquiries…I'm sorry but Detective Dunbar is waiting…"

"Yes, off course…Good luck!" Justin suddenly said and Spencer smiled at the thought and luck was the very thing that they all needed at this point in the case.

Melanie followed him out to the car and he briefed her quickly over the developments. She nodded and knew that Spencer's next call would be eagerly awaited by her self and the Coreys.

Dunbar drove quietly and carefully out of the immediate area and well away from the waiting media, because they didn't want anyone getting suspicious of their intentions. Once on the highway Dunbar switched on his flashing lights and his siren and enjoyed driving at speed to rendezvous with Reid's two colleagues.

Dunbar was in his element and Spencer thought he drove just like Morgan. Perhaps it had to do with police driving skills he reasoned with himself as he sat back and prayed that this experienced detective was as good at driving as he was in crime solving. They met Colleen and Amanda half way down the long road that led to the rather lonely house.

"It took us time to find this place," Amanda admitted, "Drove past the turning on to this approach road three times…It's a good three miles along here and a wonderful excuse for keeping yourself out of the way from prying eyes."

The two men nodded and they got back into their respective cars and continued on to the house with Amanda's car leading the way.

The old farmhouse was set in an attractive clearing and the building looked well cared for despite it's isolated position. They all approached the door together and Reid noted that a spacious 'people carrier' vehicle was in the triple sized garage.

Amanda rang the doorbell and a few minutes later the door swung open; Ann-Marie Brown looked perplexed at the visitors standing on her porch.

"You again…what's wrong this time?"

"Mrs. Brown, I've brought my colleagues who would like to speak to you," Amanda said quietly.

The tall woman stared at them and looked as if she might bolt as their silence seemed to engulf the scene on the porch.

"Mrs Brown, I'm Dr. Reid from the Crimes Against Children's Unit and this is Detective Dunbar from the Hagerstown Police Department, we would like to see your grand daughter to satisfy ourselves that she is who you claim her to be."

"Pardon!" the woman gasped in surprise, "Caroline is my grand daughter, my daughter's child born a week ago in this house…"

"Born at home, was that planned?" Spencer pressed to keep her talking.

"No she went into labour on her own and Caroline just popped out after a few minutes, typical of my Sandra she has always done things in a hurry…She has been living here for the last few months, Sandra got herself involved with yet another bastard. She had been to ante natal appointments in Chambersburg and we registered the birth in Chambersburg when we could…the next day and the doctors seemed fine about it. …So what's this nonsense about my grand daughter not being my daughter's baby?"

"Mrs. Brown we spoke to your daughter early this afternoon and saw a baby Tegan, so lets not play this game. If you would just let us look at your grand daughter then this allegation against you can soon be cleared up…"

"And what if I refuse?" she challenged and Reid looked into the same defiant blue eyes he had seen earlier in the afternoon.

"Then we will stay here and I will send one of these agents back to get a search warrant… But of course, if we heard the distressed cry of a small baby we would enter to make sure all was well…" Spencer Reid informed her firmly in his quiet voice.

Dunbar wondered if Ann-Marie Brown had been acting on her own or were the two women working in unison…There would be a lot of 'story' checking as this older woman sounded to be an accomplished liar like her daughter.

They stood in the failing light of the winter afternoon waiting patiently for the older woman to make a move. They didn't want to force an entry, but the longer she remained barring their way the more the four of them felt that the Corey child was in the house.

Spencer Reid stood patiently not giving an inch, as did his two CACU colleagues. Dunbar was itching to get inside but he understood their tactics and if they were going to get to the bottom of this case, and perhaps others if the suspicions of Reid were correct, then this stand off was part of the endgame.

Spencer Reid calmly observed the older woman. She looked slender and fit for a woman in her late sixties and from the fine bone structure of her face he surmised that she had probably been a very beautiful woman when younger. She still had a certain beauty about her even if her hair was now white. He noted that she took care of her appearance, the eyebrows were finely shaped, there was lightly applied make-up and the hair neatly styled and professionally cut to make the most of her fine features. She had a good figure for her age that implied an exercise regime; this was not a woman who had let herself slip into post-menopausal flab and premature ageing by the clothes she wore. This woman still dressed with a natural elegance and looked much younger than her years in the chestnut brown designer trouser suit she was wearing with a pale oyster pink polo necked cashmere jumper under the fitted jacket.

A baby's cry cut across the spreading silence and the four outsiders as one straightened and stared at the older woman on her threshold.

"Mrs Brown this situation can be easily settled within minutes. We require only to see the baby who you must now attend to," Reid softly said standing immobile before her. He watched the woman's face betray a variety of emotion ranging from defiance, indecision, through to fear and then a dulling of the eyes and a slight drooping of her shoulders implying a defeat and resignation.

"I'll bring her out," she offered.

"No," Reid firmly and smoothly replied, "It's too cold to bring a small baby to the door. We will step inside with you." His tone was quiet but there was no leeway for negotiation in it and the woman nodded tersely and turned her back to them. Reid entered followed by Dunbar, then the willowy tall redheaded Colleen and finally the smaller but shapely Amanda.

They followed the woman through the neat and well-furnished house to a back sitting room where a navy carrycot was placed on the large square limed oak coffee table. Once in this room, Dunbar had pressed ahead of the others to reach the carrycot first and he momentarily peered down at the distressed baby before he protectively lifted her out and began to rock her gently in his arms.

"It's all right, Eliza, we'll soon have you back with your little brother…he's missing you too," the older man softly told the room.

Ann-Marie Brown made no attempt to contradict the man and the two women agents positioned themselves either side of her and she knew that she had no escape. Reid nodded to Amanda who began to caution her, telling the woman her legal rights as they were going to take her into custody but Ann-Marie suddenly cut her off.

"I want a lawyer," she coldly asserted.

"As you wish," Reid replied unconcerned and then Amanda finished what she had started.

"Detective Dunbar and Agent O'Rouke will take you to Hagerstown Police Headquarters," Reid said and Dunbar nodded, knowing that this would be his honour before his colleagues back in Hagerstown. Amanda and Colleen escorted Mrs Brown out to Dunbar's car.

Reid turned once more to Dunbar when the women had left the room. "Meanwhile, Amanda and I will take Eliza here to be checked over at Hagerstown Hospital and I'll have Melanie bring over the parents and baby brother for a re-union at the hospital. Let's keep Sandra Brady under surveillance because I think there is more to this and I want to see if Robert and Chris have turned up anything concrete with their searches. We can give the briefest of details to the press…but lets leave it as long as possible, saying that we will give a proper news conference tomorrow. Are you happy with taking Mrs Brown in?" Spencer belatedly asked Dunbar realising that he'd not consulted the man before he gave out his orders.

"Thanks, I really appreciate that and I think the Police department will too. You know you boosted everyone when you arrived by saying that it was our local knowledge that would solve this and if I take her in and keep our people watching the other suspect it makes it more of a success for the department. Sorry I don't mean to belittle your efforts…we couldn't have got this far without getting you people involved especially with the crossing of state lines."

"I told you, we were here to help find a missing child…We don't go in for treading on toes, we're on the same side. I want to call Melanie and prepare the hospital, do you want to tell your Chief what we're doing?"

Kenneth Dunbar nodded and smiled. He felt a warm satisfaction flood his whole being because this was going to have a happy ending and perhaps held the answers for other mysteries. He placed Eliza back in the carrycot and she dozed seeming to know that she was safe. He then reached into his pocket for his cell to make those important calls.

Meanwhile, Spencer Reid speed dialled Melanie.

"Melanie, we have Eliza, she's safe and we'll follow the standard procedure of having her checked over…Can you bring the Coreys and little Michael for a re-union at Hagerstown Hospital. Amanda and I are taking her there while Colleen and Dunbar are taking Mrs Brown to Police Headquarters…We'll let the media know later, but for now just say that you are taking the baby to be checked out at the hospital if anyone asks…"

"Fine would you like to tell Justine he's hovering here?"

"Of course,"

Melanie grinned and handed Justine the phone, "Talk to Spencer Reid and I'll go and tell Shannon the good news,"

"Hello? Is it true?" Justine managed to ask but his throat felt like it was constricting with the overwhelming emotions he was feeling.

"Eliza's fine but its standard procedure to have any victim checked over at a hospital so we thought we'd not inform the press yet. Melanie will take both of you to the hospital with Michael and if any press ask on the way just say that he's had a bit of a temperature and its just a precautionary check…"

"I understand…Dr. Reid…Thank you."

"It's my job, Justin, but you need to thank Detective Dunbar because he made the initial call to my unit. The local Police have done all the right things and the media were also wonderful at getting out the details but we'll have the time to thank everyone who helped perhaps tomorrow at an organised conference. What matters at the moment is for you and Shannon to be re-united with Eliza…O.K?"

"Yeah you're right …Shannon's here could you just explain that all to her?" he asked tearfully as he grabbed his wife into an embrace and gave her the phone.

"Hello…Dr. Reid…" she managed and then heard the soft voice calmly telling her that her baby was safe. Shannon felt her knees weaken and she sank down onto the arm of the sofa while her heart raced and she felt sick and relieved at the same time. She needed to see her baby, needed to hold her close and knew that it would be difficult to ever leave either of the twins alone in a room again. She felt Justin fiercely hug her in wordless understanding; today had been the worst experience in her life but suddenly here was the promise of goodness and happiness in their world once more.

Forty minutes later, Spencer drove the SUV into the back entrance at the Hagerstown Hospital and was met by the lead paediatrician, Dr Jorg, who took charge of the sleeping baby and strode to the elevator with Spencer and Amanda in tow. Less than ten minutes later, the Coreys were brought in to see their daughter who was beginning to protest at the examination she'd received. However, Dr Jorg re-assured everyone that Eliza was well and placed her into Shannon's eager arms while Justin hovered holding the sleeping Michael in his baby car seat. Reid felt this was the time to leave the room as it was obvious that Shannon was going to breast-feed the baby to re-establish that special bond between mother and child.

He went into the corridor where Amanda and Melanie beamed at him.

"That was some hunch you had!" Melanie said to him feeling the wonderful elation shared by all the people working on the case that Eliza had been found on the same day that she had been taken. Things didn't always work out that quickly but Melanie felt that Reid's abilities had worked in their favour along with the good rapport he had right from the start with Dunbar and the Police department.

"Well it was Dunbar who really triggered my thinking with his memory of an old unsolved case but I sense Mrs. Brown is going to be less than forthcoming. I just hope that Robert and Chris have managed to find some concrete evidence in the areas I suggested," Spencer replied as he began to anticipate problems ahead.

Reid suddenly stopped as he saw Justin Corey striding towards him.

"I just wanted…" and then the words he'd practised in his mind, as they had been driven to the hospital, all disappeared in the overwhelming relief he felt. Justin Corey stepped forward and found himself just bear-hugging the very thin man who had returned his precious daughter to the family.

Amanda watched the emotional display and was pleased that Reid didn't reject the hug but, after the initial surprise, had returned the gesture.

"You're welcome," Spencer quietly said, "Shannon's a lovely mother and it's been my pleasure to help find Eliza."

Justin pulled away a little embarrassed at his spontaneous actions but Spencer grinned and they shared the triumph of the day in that simple gesture. Spencer Reid was very conscious that he was Justin's age and wondered how he would have coped had he been in this situation.

"We have arranged for you all to stay here tonight and it will help Shannon to get a bit of a rest. Have you rung Granny and Auntie in Frederick yet?" Melanie suddenly asked Justin and broke the intense emotions of the moment.

"No, I just couldn't really believe it until I'd seen Eliza with my own eyes," he confessed.

"Come along then, there's an office by the nurses station we can use," Melanie said shepherding the man along the corridor to make another special and emotional phone call.

Amanda grinned at Reid, "Great day…lets savour it for a few more minutes before you go back to police Headquarters…Colleen says they are holding off the press at the moment but the Police Chief wants you and Dunbar together as they make a brief statement. So far Sandra hasn't moved from the Hagerstown house…Are we going to pick her up?"

"We need to get Social Services in for the arrest and I need to speak to Robert before getting back to Dunbar," Reid replied as he slipped into an empty secretary's office the paediatrician said they could use along this corridor.

After speaking to Robert, Chris and Tony, who had decided to stay and help after returning from seeing Roy about his court appearance later that week, Spencer rang Dunbar.

"How's Mrs. Brown?"

"She's said nothing other than to contact a very expensive lawyer in Philadelphia and he's on his way. Shall I order Gershwin and Launder to pick up the daughter…It will take a few minutes to get Social Services on board before they can make any arrest…so it'll not be immediate but the press are twitching here because they sense something is happening. My boss is stone-walling, saying that we'll give them details when we have something to say, but we're really waiting for you to act against Mommy Dearest…"

"Yes, we don't want her to take off because she hears something on the news. I've got enough to charge her with…falsely registering a child twice, in two different states, under two different names…The first time legitimately as Sandra Brady's daughter, Tegan at the Hagerstown Hospital where she was born. The second time at Chambersburg where Mrs. Brown took Sandra and Tegan after she discharged herself from Hagerstown. At Chambersburg she claimed a home birth and an examination confirmed a recent delivery and the baby was examined. All seemed to be consistent with a new-born baby. Little Tegan was registered there as Caroline Krystan…."

"Right, I've got all of that…Are you coming to make the arrest?" Dunbar asked.

"No, you don't need me, is Colleen nearby? She can represent the CACU on this but you and your officers can do that work with Colleen on the arrest while I drive over to Headquarters and speak to your boss over what to say to the press."

"Thanks, I'm really going to enjoy this…I'll get on to Social Services and get them to send their people over for little Tegan…Here's Colleen, do you want to tell her what has been decided?"

"Please," Spencer replied and he part of his brain was already considering what to tell the press.

An hour later, the press and television reporters were assembled in the large first floor room that the Headquarters usually used for their rare media conferences. The Police Chief was pleased with the speedy outcome of this case. However, his earlier conversation with the formidable Dr. Reid had been an eye opener as he indicated that this case was just the surface of a suspected series of abductions by the two women and he wanted eventually to personally interview both of them. He was surprised that Dr. Reid was prepared to leave the interviews until the next day but then he had explained that everyone was tired and needed to enjoy this moment of the present successful outcome before they delved into murkier depths that involved other states. The Chief agreed that none of their further investigations were going to be mentioned to the awaiting media that evening.

The assembled press and microphones and hand-held cameras paid attention to the stage. The smartly dressed Chief of Police stood before the lectern.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are only going to give a brief statement tonight because we will have more to tell you tomorrow. However, I can tell you that Eliza Corey was found safe and well late this afternoon, just over the state line, at an address in Pennsylvania. She has been re-united with her parents and twin brother at the local hospital here and the Coreys have agreed to join us for a more comprehensive press conference tomorrow afternoon at 2:30.

I would like to thank you all for your help in this matter and for your sensitivity in accepting the restrictions we enforced around the Corey home to give them some peace during a time of immense distress.

I would also like to say that our lead Detective on this case from the very start has been Kenneth Dunbar and he was eager to bring in the CACU and I agreed. We soon had the very able assistance of Dr. Spencer Reid and Agent Melanie Hurst. But we all want to thank you again for your superb response in publicising this abduction and the sensitive behaviour of every one in this room towards the family. Now I'm going to turn you briefly over to Detective Dunbar."

Dunbar stepped forward and read from his prepared sheet.

"This afternoon, Dr. Reid and I made two home visits during the course of our enquiries into the disappearance of Eliza Corey. The first one was to the home of another mother, whom Shannon Corey briefly had come to know through her ante-natal visits, and we talked to Sandra Brady and saw her baby, Tegan. Dr Reid was suspicious about this lady and had already sent colleagues from the CACU to the second address in Pennsylvania, the home of the Sandra Brady's mother, Ann-Marie Brown. These agents' suspicions were raised by the sound of a baby; a child that Mrs. Brown said was her grand daughter, Caroline. We all met up at this address and insisted on seeing the child after my officers confirmed that Sandra Brady and her daughter, Tegan, had not left their house back here. Quite simply, Caroline was little Eliza and Dr Reid and his colleague transported her back to Hagerstown Hospital while Agent O'Rouke and I arrested Ann-Marie Brown for kidnapping. I would like to turn you briefly over to Dr. Spencer Reid of the CACU."

The room was transfixed; they were being given information but with the barest of details and the journalists were beginning to sense a good story.

Spencer Reid hated this but he remembered how J.J. handled the press and how Hotch had always used his considerable personality to control any media event. As an F.B.I agent he had been given 'media' training at Quantico but he still didn't like facing a roomful of media people as a senior agent. Reid was more comfortable with the usual media gaggle en route to a court room appearance where usually a terse 'No comment,' was enough with his long purposeful stride to stop any media probing. But this evening he had nowhere to escape to as they had called this. He breathed deeply to calm his nerves and resisted the urge to put his hands in his pockets and slouch towards the back of the stage in an attempt to blend into the green drapes of the raised platform.

"Thank you, Detective," he said softly and momentarily peered nervously out at the eager faces before he took on another persona to cope with the situation and decided to model himself on how Hotch might handle this eager media gathering.

"I would just like to state that right from the start when Detective Dunbar called the CACU, he particularly stressed that this case reminded him of another from the past that was unsolved but had never been forgotten as far as he was concerned. I listened carefully and set to work the resources of the CACU in checking the backgrounds of all the people that had recently been in contact with the Coreys. I hope that you will give us the time to bring together this information in a more comprehensive form for you tomorrow. But I'm sure that you will appreciate that all the police and agents on this case have been working flat out since the call came in and now all of us would like to get some rest and celebrate the fact that this has ended quickly and well. I hope that you will join us again tomorrow afternoon, along with the Coreys and the twins, Eliza and Michael, for a more 'in-depth' question and answer session. Thank you."

He turned to leave but the shocked silence was breached by several voices calling out from the floor.

"But Dr. Reid…"

"Can you tell us what…"

"Dr. Reid ..Why were you suspicious?"

Reid stopped and stood up straight and turned a very closed face on the crowd. He just stared stonily at the faces before him with his defiant brown steady eyes until the voices began to quieten, and then he said firmly in a voice of authority, "I will explain further tomorrow, now until then, goodnight." He turned again and this time walked off the stage with his back ramrod straight and the Chief of Police smiled at the unsatisfied faces.

The Chief stepped forward with a beaming smile, "Now ladies and gentleman, that will be all until tomorrow at 2:30, and, as Dr. Reid said, Goodnight." He turned and nodded to Kenneth Dunbar who followed his boss off the stage and out of the room.

Hayley Hotchner sat curled up on the sofa with her husband and grinned.

"Well, that was quite a performance! There was something that reminded me of you in that," she said turning to the man she loved beside her.

Aaron Hotchner shook his head in mock seriousness but he couldn't quite suppress the broad smile, "It's nice to know he learnt something from his time with me."

Hayley laughed but suddenly became serious, "It's a feather in his cap though, but I get the distinct feeling that there is more to this case than anyone is letting on…."

"Yes, I think you're right and that's why they have called another longer conference for tomorrow…I bet the CACU are putting together quite a package of facts concerning those two women mentioned. Perhaps when he comes for a Sunday lunch we'll get to know more about this…or at least he might tell me in the study."

"Yeah, he'll tell you but not me…But they found that little girl very quickly and the Bureau will like the publicity over this one…"

"And if Reid manages to tie up a few more loose ends as well he will be very popular with the Director," Aaron finished for her. But he knew the look that Reid had used on the assembled media; it was his secretive closed look that he retreated behind when he was determined not to let you into his world. Hotch had seen it a few times since knowing the agent and usually he retreated behind that mask when he wanted to protect his friends or family from prying questions or eyes.

Spencer Reid walked into his home soon after 10 o'clock, he felt mentally and emotionally drained and was glad that Melanie had naturally assumed that she would be driving back from Hagerstown to College Park so they could pick up their respective vehicles. But before driving home, he had gone up to the CACU and found Tony and Chris still briefing four agents, who were covering the night shift, on the data gathering for the case so they could continue it through the night. Chris looked up and grinned when he saw Reid,

"Danielle said that Andrea is ready to be with you on this one…She's not scared of any big lawyers from Philadelphia and can you ring her to give a time to show up in Hagerstown for the legal fight!"

"Oh boy Andrea! I'm glad she's on our side," Reid replied and an image of the striking blond amazon came into his mind.

"It's a generous offer, Spencer," interjected Tony as he shrugged on his warm jacket, "Roy said that she had originally booked this week off…but she's very experienced in child abduction cases and obviously couldn't resist this one. Great work, we were all impressed with the way you got results quickly and how you managed the media!"

Spencer felt a little embarrassed at the praise but it was good publicity for the whole unit.

"Andrea's fearless when it comes to children so I'll go and ring her now or she'll be roasting me over her fire for not returning the call," Spencer said and headed for the deputy's office. He briefed Andrea about the case and he could tell even over the phone that Andrea was ready for battle against a mother and daughter who it seemed may have been kidnapping children for some years and probably making a handsome profit.

Spencer also found a note from Danielle with details of their agents, in other states, who had been briefed to contact families and request DNA samples from adopted children to assist the case against the two scheming women. There were 6 other suspicious looking adoptions that appeared to be connected with Sarah Brady and these needed to be thoroughly investigated. Two families had already been contacted because they were in nearby states and others would be contacted the next day. Spencer had mixed feelings about this case; it was going to be messy and emotional and he didn't want to think too deeply about that at the moment.

There was also a note from Robert that indicated that he was finding Ann-Marie Brown and her sister, Ann-Maria, to be interesting in their own right. Corinne and Barbara were now deeply involved with those lines of enquiries into the activities of this pair. There were attached notes from the two women agents outlining their efforts so far. Spencer found himself putting his head in his hands and staring down at the desk as his brain absorbed and joined the dots of the details they had written. It was far more extensive than he had imagined, this went back to another generation and if all these people were eventually contacted, then even more lives would be shattered while others would be proven to be innocent of slurs that had been cast their way over the years. Reid suddenly resolved to go home to the normality of Jo and pushed the chair decisively away from the desk to begin his escape from College Park.

"Hey, I saw you on the news," Jo said from behind him as Spencer hung his coat up in the entrance hall closet.

He turned and opened his arms to her and was grateful for her warm comfortably familiar body as he hugged her close. He could smell the weakening scent of the jasmine perfume that she liked to wear. Spencer thought how by this time of the day that it had lost the sharper edge that the jasmine had when it was first applied in the morning.

"Do you want anything to eat?"

"No, I'm not really hungry…I just want to go to bed, its been a hellish day," he confessed.

"But you found the little one very quickly," Jo replied softly wondering about the things left unsaid at the brief press conference.

Spencer hugged her a little tighter and closed his eyes, savouring the steadiness of her presence.

"I hate working children's cases…It's very complicated Jo, it looks like this mother and daughter have done this sort of thing several times and the mother probably did it when younger…"

Jo drew back and looked him in the eyes, "Kidnapping children and what then?" she asked her own voice quiet with the awful implications of what she had just asked.

"Oh I don't think they harmed them. They would just steal a twin at the same time they had a baby of their own and put them both up for adoption. Before the laws were changed, I suspect mother and her sister made a nice sum of money selling them to childless couples who would have the right sort of wealthy background to give the babies a good start in life," Spencer replied bitterly, "But it's the biological parents that I worry about. You should have seen the emotional devastation caused to the Coreys by just having Eliza missing for less than a day…I'm just pleased that we got her back quickly but who knows what we are going to turn up now we are digging into these women's pasts."

Spencer suddenly broke off his embrace and it seemed to Jo that Spencer looked as if he had aged 40 years with the weight of the implications of this case. His whole stature seemed slumped as if he was carrying a heavy sack on his back and the expressive eyes looked sunken and sad.

"Lets go to bed, I'll lock up down here," he suddenly said and turned to the kitchen to secure the back door.

Jo returned briefly to the front room to switched off the television and then the light before following him up the stairs.

For the first time in a couple of months, Spencer was once more in the dark, dank shack wondering which persona of Hankel was going to visit him next. He awoke to Jo firmly holding his shoulders and pressing him into the mattress as he tried to resist the effects of the dilaudid that Tobias had injected into his arm. He opened his eyes to find the bedroom dimly light by the bedside lamp and the worried face of Jo staring down into his as she had straddled his body to stop him thrashing about in his desperate need to escape the memories.

He felt his racing heart and the taste of bile in his mouth but he managed not to be sick. "I need to go to the bathroom," he whispered and Jo moved off him and watched him go to the ensuite.

While there, Spencer decided to have a drink of water, clean his teeth to take away any after taste with the peppermint tooth taste and then had a quick shower to wash away the perspiration and to banish the remnants of the nightmare with the refreshing water. It was almost a year now but those memories could be as fresh now as they were when originally inflicted. He was kidnapped; a term that people do not usually associate with full-grown men, and he was tortured both physically and mentally. Spencer breathed deeply smelling the citrus-based perfume of the shower gel. He was thankful that Eliza Corey was far too young to ever remember her ordeal but he knew that the horrors of those hours she was missing would never leave the memories of Shannon or Justin Corey.

He slipped back to bed and found that Jo had also quickly changed the sheets so they smelt fresh and faintly of the vaguely lime scented conditioner she used in the wash. It was thoughtful of her and helped him to relax once more as he automatically reached across to cuddle up to her softness.

"Feeling better?" she whispered.

"Yeah, sorry…"

"You don't have to apologise…We both know what its like to be haunted by memories but we have each other now so we can cope with them when they suddenly make an appearance."

"Mmm…" Spencer muttered but he decided that perhaps the best way tonight to banish those memories was to make love to his wife again and re-affirm to himself that he had another life well away from the CACU world.

The next day had started early, going in before 7 a.m. to gather all the evidence together that had been uncovered from the further investigation into the activities of Ann-Marie and her sister through the night. Corinne and Barbara were both planning a trip to New Jersey, while Claire and Melanie seemed intent on following up enquiries in West Virginia. They assured their deputy that they would get back to him as soon as possible with any useful ammunition to stop the older woman trying to plea bargain. Spencer didn't think that Andrea Erikson would be inclined to consider a plea bargain rather, after his late conversation with her, Spencer thought that Andrea would be out for scalps. Amanda Gilmore was eager to return with him to Hagerstown to help with the interrogation of the women and generally co-ordinate the information that was being gathered and checked that day. At 8 o'clock, Amanda happily settled in the driving seat to take them back to the Hagerstown Police Headquarters.

There were a few reporters and cameras as they arrived but they briskly walked through the main entrance with a firm "Good morning" and headed for Dunbar's desk.

Kenneth Dunbar beamed at them, "Hey, good to have you back. The ladies have not liked being held and their lawyers didn't get here until nearly midnight and left around one. I told them that the questioning would begin in earnest today and they said they would be here for 10 o'clock and when I told them that Andrea Erikson was the CACU prosecutor they didn't seem so confident…I gather the lady has a reputation according to our usual DA."

"Oh yes, Andrea Erikson is not a person you can dismiss easily," replied Spencer and Amanda grinned. Kenneth Dunbar raised a questioning eyebrow at their reaction.

Amanda stepped in, "Andrea's lovely…just a bit fierce if she passionately believes in what she's doing…in our case working against those who would harm children…But Andrea Erikson…now how would you sum her up?" she turned and asked Spencer.

Spencer Reid grinned, "Fearless!" he pronounced, "And God help those two women because they have dared to inflict emotional pain on other families even if they did not physically hurt any child. She will not be very sympathetic to their actions especially as she expects better from her fellow women."

"Yeah…that's about it!" agreed Amanda, "Oh you'll like her Detective…just remember that she's on our side and I gather she's even given up some of her vacation time to be here today."

Kenneth Dunbar nodded and felt that this was a case that was going to be talked about in this Police Department for many years to come.

Spencer decided to talk to Sandra Brady first and he entered the interview room with Dunbar following. She seemed surprised to see him perhaps because he had not participated in her actual arrest. Besides her sat an elegantly dressed man in his forties. He wore a designer light grey suit, an equally expensive looking pale blue shirt that was livened up with a royal blue tie in a jacquard design. Spencer Reid noted the beautifully manicured nails and the short brown hair that was just beginning to show a stray grey hair but Reid thought this man would welcome the ageing process believing that it would give him the air of gravitas in the courtroom. The man's body looked sleek for his age and was obviously careful about his appearance to keep in trim. Alert brown eyes stared back at him from the handsome clean-shaven face. There was just the hint of after-shave in the room but it was very subtle and all added to the overall impression of cultured experience and wealth.

Sandra Brady was still in the clothes they had seen her in yesterday and she radiated annoyance at Reid as he sat down.

"Mr. James Greenall," Spencer smiled and nodded slightly at the lawyer, "My name is Dr. Spencer Reid and I'm working as a deputy in charge of the CACU at College Park."

The lawyer sat up unconsciously straighter, "Are you the same Dr. Reid from the Behavioural Analysis Unit who's recently published a book?"

"The very same, Mr. Greenall, but I have been seconded to the CACU to cover for maternity leave and get some more experience in another specialist unit," the young man replied but he wondered if he really had read his book or just over heard the talk in the Police Headquarters.

"Now lets get down to business," Reid suddenly began dismissing the initial pleasantries, "Does your client have anything to discuss with me concerning the kidnapping of Eliza Corey?"

Sandra Brady remained silent and stared intently at the two men opposite her while her lawyer began to earn his fees.

"Dr. Reid, Ms Brady has no knowledge of her mother's actions concerning that child,"

"Mr. Greenall, I think your client has not realised the seriousness of the charges against her. We have a copy of the registration of her own daughter as Tegan Brady, something she did before she discharged herself from the hospital here in Hagerstown. We also have another copy of a registration of Caroline Krystan daughter of Sandra Krystan who had attended ante-natal sessions at the hospital in Chambersburg just over the state line in Pennsylvania. Brady is the name of your first husband and Krystan your second. We know that you have a history of using both names when it suits you. I believe your mother drove you to Chambersburg hospital, probably as soon as you discharged yourself from Hagerstown, and you claimed that she was an unexpected rather fast home birth in Mercersburg. The Chambersburg hospital knew you as one of their expectant mothers and therefore didn't question the story you and your mother told them. So Ms. Brady why would you register your baby twice, in two different states, under two different names?" asked Reid and knew by the uncomfortable look he received from the lawyer that his client had not been totally truthful with him.

"May I have a few quiet moments alone with my client please?" James Greenall asked smoothly even if the suave exterior was feeling a little ruffled.

"Of course," Reid politely replied and calmly rose from his chair. He and Dunbar went out into the corridor and grinned at the imposing figure of Andrea Erikson.

"No plea bargaining!" she firmly stated, "Are you going to have a dig at her mother while Jimmy Greenall tries to find out just what his client is hiding?"

"Ah, You know him then!" Dunbar said and Andrea's lovely blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Oh, yes, he's made quite a name for himself but he's totally out of his depth with this one. I think Jimmy will try to wriggle out of this because he'll not like being on the wrong side in such a notorious case and its going to be notorious…The papers are going to be all over this one once we start giving them some real facts this afternoon."

They walked round the corner and entered another identical interview room where sat Ann-Marie Brown with her lawyer, a beautifully groomed grey haired woman in her late fifties. This lawyer's Chanel perfume filled the stale air of the room and Reid appraised the petite woman dressed in a beautifully tailored black wool suit with a pristine white silk blouse. On the lapel of the jacket was a modern gold brooch, in the style of a Celtic twisting pattern, and at its centre was a diamond. Again the impression was power dressing to intimidate and emphasise the wealth and experience of the legal practitioner in the room. Dunbar's years of experience left him unimpressed but curious as to how these two lawyers were going to advise their respective clients.

Reid and Dunbar followed the same procedure with the mother as they had done with the daughter and Reid introduced himself to Vivienne Stallybrass.

"Ms Stallybrass, I would like to know what your client has to say about the initial charges brought against her concerning the kidnapping of baby Eliza Corey and we believe the participation in similar abductions over the years. Some of these other crimes involved her daughter, Sandra, and some were perpetrated by herself along with her sister, the late Ann-Maria Yeggar," the agent calmly stated.

The two women looked at each other; there was puzzlement in the lawyer's expression and panic on the face of Ann-Marie Brown.

"Mrs. Brown, have you told me everything that is relevant to this case?" Vivienne Stallybrass firmly but quietly asked. Reid thought Ms Stallybrass sounded like an old fashioned teacher about to upbraid an unruly pupil whom she felt had disappointed her by betraying her trust.

Ann-Marie was out of her depth and looked flustered by this turn of events. She looked down into her lap and then brought a hand up to her mouth and then rubbed her forehead as if trying to wipe away the memories that she did not wish to acknowledge.

The two men watched patiently both knowing that these mannerisms were indications of her nervousness and guilt in matters that had yet to be clearly defined, although the CACU were now beavering away at following up birth registrations and adoption proceedings.

Mrs. Brown finally looked up and stared straight at Reid sitting directly opposite her.

"You're buffering!" she said trying to sound defiant but there was a slight tremor to her hands and she placed them in her lap, each wrapped round the other in an attempt to stop the trembling that was now beginning to get a firm hold.

"No, Mrs. Brown, we began to look at your life and the finances of your family and we turned up some very interesting facts. You have a very common name, Brown but your late husband, whom you divorced, liked to use Philips Brown. You sometimes also call yourself Ann-Marie Philips Brown, a name your daughter also used when she put her first abducted child up for adoption in Pennsylvania. That child we believe was Laura Fairmen, a twin just like Eliza Corey.

The two of you perfected a system, one in which you were already an expert because since the age of 18 you had given birth to almost one baby a year, until you were 28 years old. You placed the first 8 children for private adoption because you claimed that you and your husband couldn't afford to keep them with your husband's gambling habit and a baby deserved a better family. It was your sister who helped in those days because sometimes your husband would disappear off gambling and trucking his way around the country to earn money that I suspect you rarely saw. I think it was Ann-Maria who would abduct the twin, always the same sex of your baby, always from a mother you had befriended while pregnant so you got to know her routine. Did you use the same ruse?… You know, talking to the mother on the phone when they were on their own while Ann-Maria slipped in and took the child…Just like Sandra befriended Shannon Corey. Tell me, why did you choose to keep the ninth baby, to keep Sandra?"

"I had enough, I had made a lot of money and I thought a girl would carry on the business if money became short later," she confessed thinking that they seemed to know all of it. She seemed to look more like her 68 years now and sounded almost relieved to say something as if her strength to make a defiant stand was ebbing away.

Reid noticed the shocked look in the eyes of the lawyer but she made no attempt to instruct her client. Vivienne Stallybrass seemed to lean further back on the hard plastic seat of the chair as if trying to remove herself as far as she could from the matters being discussed at the table.

"Now that's not totally true because you did have two more pregnancies after you had divorced John Philips Brown, both sons and both adopted soon after their births when Sandra would have been 4 and 8. We also believe that your sister shared in the adoption money of the two boys who were targeted and abducted soon after your own babies were born. The first of these abducted boys was falsely registered as Carl Yeggar using your sister's name of Ann-Maria Yeggar as the mother. This child we believe was the missing Daniel Morris, a twin son of Doreen and Gordon Morris from Greenboro, in North Carolina. The other abducted boy was put up for adoption as Jonathan, son of Ann-Marie Yeggar. We suspect he was really Alan Kelly, a twin son of Alice and Robert Kelly and taken from Westwood, New Jersey. We believe that we have traced both adopting families and agents are already travelling to obtain DNA samples to see if this theory is correct. We have been very careful with our tracing procedures and you may have thought you were safe with a private adoption but when we suspect a crime is involved then we break through the red tape."

Vivienne Stallybrass suddenly broke the tension of the room.

"Mrs Brown, I advise you to fully co-operate with Dr. Reid, as a legal secretary you must already be aware that kidnapping is a Federal crime and is looked upon very seriously by the courts."

Ann-Marie turned haunted eyes towards her lawyer. The once tall elegant older woman looked very crumpled and small as the enormity of her actions over the years were suddenly coming to light. Reid noticed how she was physically shaking with the stress of the interview room but he couldn't find any compassion within him to offer her a break or even a warm drink. Kenneth Dunbar sat stone-faced beside him and seemed unmoved to break the scene that was unfolding.

Reid noticed that the kidnapper's eyes were beginning to water and he judged then the time to continue in a quiet voice to try and get more facts from this woman in order to further understand the daughter.

"Mrs. Brown, you had your first child when you were 18, it must have been a difficult time as you had perhaps suffered hardships through the war years with your father working all hours in an armaments factory and your mother working all hours too…."

"Yeah, there was just me and Ann-Maria, she was a year younger than me but we were very alike and people thought us twins…" she smiled at a distant memory and those round the table thought about the irony of her words.

"Dad drank most of his wages so Mom worked to keep us feed and my sister and I …we really looked after ourselves, especially after Dad left after the war and we went to school. Mom had a day job in a factory and a cleaning job in the evening so we were use to being left on our own for a few hours at night. We just wanted to better ourselves when we grew up…I met John when I was 17…and fell pregnant. We got married but Mom threw me out saying that I'd made my bed and now I had to lie in it.

John drove trucks and went all over the country so he was away a lot and I quickly realised that a baby was not a good idea. I was too young and John was unreliable because he liked his drink and gambling. It was Ann-Maria who came up with the idea; she came with me to an appointment at the hospital in Frederick and got talking to a woman expecting twins. She was poor and told her that she didn't know how they were going to manage to cope with the extra cost of twins because they didn't even have a house. Ann-Maria lived on the outskirts of Hanover then and we thought out a plan. I registered as her so I could attend ante natal sessions there and when my baby was born in Frederick and registered, I quickly discharged myself into my sisters care. Ann-Maria then drove me to Hanover where I claimed I'd given birth at home; it was foggy weather so nobody questioned our tale. I registered him in Hanover as Christopher Yeggar.

Then I got in touch with Susan Klaus, she'd not had her twins yet but I was lucky she had one of each so we took the boy. It was easy really, Susan had a ground floor apartment and she put the twins in their pram out on the little balcony area every afternoon while she tried to get a nap. She'd draw the drapes of her bedroom so she could rest so we just had to watch and then we took the risk to carry out our plan. I went to the apartment building with my own baby son and when I saw my sister drive past I knew she had the baby and then I pressed Susan's doorbell. The police in Frederick never suspected us and if they had well… Anna Maria had a son and I had a son, co-incidentally born on the same day. But like I said, we often got mistaken as twins a lot back then. No-one suspected anything and my sister had quietly taken Susan's son back to her isolated Hanover house. She liked isolated places, liked being well away from people, and no one thought anything of it in Hanover because they had seen me pregnant, even if they didn't know my name, and some knew I was Ann-Maria's sister.

John didn't want our kid so I made enquiries about private adoptions. I soon realised that there were lawyers who were willing to act as the broker...they made money and so did I. It was very useful and paid off debts," she said and then chuckled at the returning memory… "The adopters paid me well, an extra sum besides what they had already paid the lawyer because I made out that there was another couple interested in the boy. So they made it worth my while to let them adopt Freddie as I think I named him."

"And Susan Klaus's son, what happened to him?" probed Reid unemotionally.

"Well, Freddie was the practice run with the adoption side. After my child was gone, I took Susan's son with me, I called him Christopher by then, and went to stay with a friend in Washington for a few weeks. I told her that John was hell and didn't want the baby and I was thinking the best thing was adoption for him. I contacted a lawyer in Silver Springs who helped couples and he was adopted when he was two months old….They were very generous, I split the money with Ann-Maria and put mine in an account that John didn't know about. I decided to save to go to college to better myself. But John came back and I was in love with all that charm of his again. I was quickly pregnant again and he said to get rid of it like the other one as it was a useful way to pay the bills...

My sister and I perfected our system over the next few years. We always shared the money because we shared the risks but I stopped after the birth of the last boy. I had trained as a legal secretary and I was beginning to mix with a better class of people, even if the men I got pregnant with then dumped me. I was as good at choosing my men as Sandra is with hers."

Vivienne Stallybrass caught Spencer's eye and gave him a look of utter disbelief and disgust and Spencer could sympathise with her sentiments but he doubted that this woman and her sister had received much love in her childhood from her own mother. She had displayed certain behaviour that was typical for such an unloved girl. She had met the wrong man very quickly in a desperate attempt to find the love and affection she didn't receive at home. It had lasted in a dysfunctional way until she had finally decided that she could ditch him for something better…perhaps that was where the two later boys fitted in after Sandra's birth.

"So your sister bought her isolated house outside Mercersburg with her money and invested on the stock market and was successful enough to live moderately well. She just helped you with your lucrative venture when needed…only you later moved to other states for the ruse so people wouldn't get suspicious, staying in two different rented properties and one always isolated," Reid clarified.

"Yeah you have it, the last boy paid for Sandra's education but then the silly bitch got pregnant at 17. Daddy was the son of a rich banker who offered to pay for an abortion but Sandra refused so he sent his son abroad to finish his education and moved the family too. But being an unmarried mother wasn't as bad for her as it would have been for me. It was 1985 when she had her first but like I said, she didn't want to have an abortion …Scared of operations you know, even getting her to the dentist is a trial! But like me she has easy pregnancies and births. When she got pregnant again, and dumped again, Ann-Maria and I told her about our scheme that had provided for us to have a better life. She didn't flinch, Sandra saw the advantages of kidnapping a twin and pocketing two lots of adoption money. Of course we had to adapt the scheme to adjust to new circumstances, but it's taken you 20 years to pick her up but the F.B.I. never caught my sister and I when we worked the scam," she explained with pride in her voice and Reid noted how this woman even sat up straighter with that memory."

"But we have caught you now and you and Sandra will go to prison," Reid firmly stated and felt appalled at the thought of the misery this woman, her sister and her daughter had caused since 1958.

"Tell me what you remember of the other pregnancies and adoptions…" Spencer dutifully asked so it could be checked with the researches already taking place.

An hour later he left the interview room needing coffee before tackling the daughter, but he was met by Amanda and Andrea who told him that she had been truthful so far and Amanda had passed on the details they had not discovered to be followed up.

Sitting with the daughter, Dr. Reid was in no mood for a tennis match of lobbing titbits of information over the table to eke out details. He briskly re-entered the interview room and his very manner left both occupants without any doubt that he was going to nail Sandra to the wall if she didn't start co-operating. This change unsettled both James Greenall and Sandra Brady and Dunbar felt a certain satisfaction at their discomfort.

"Mr. Greenall, is your client prepared to fully co-operate now?" Spencer asked his crisp tone was icily cold and the temperature in the room plummeted.

"My client has spoken to me about her activities which were at the original suggestion of her mother who told her about how she had acquired her money and education in the years before she kept her daughter. I'm sure that you can appreciate Dr. Reid the influence her mother has had on her life especially as her father was a drunken gambler. Her mother finally divorced John Philips Brown so that she and her daughter could have a better life…"

Spencer interjected, "Mr. Greenall, you can save the tearful background fable for the courtroom, what I now need are the facts. As I told Mrs. Brown, there are agents already making contact with the families of the kidnapped adopted children. We know that these two women have been active for 50 years between them. I understand that your client was a rebellious, strong-willed and highly intelligent girl who would have appreciated the lucrative nature of the scheme her own mother had worked with her aunt…Unfortunately for the pair of you, but to our favour, you decided to come back to the same area of your first abduction."

"Oh that wasn't my idea…Mom's getting old…Silly cow said that she didn't want to go to another state to live for 6 months like before. She reckoned no one would remember the Fairmen child because it was so long ago and I'd been staying with Granny in Frederick then…." Sandra batted back at the agent.

"Well, Ms Brady, Detective Dunbar here was a young officer in this force then and he remembered that old case as if it was yesterday. Although your name then was Sandra Brown when you worked briefly at the same office as the pregnant Monica Fairmen and struck up a 'friendship'," Reid replied coolly and thought that these two women had fortunately put up their own children for adoption. Ann-Marie certainly had not been a good mother to Sandra but having a bad mother didn't mean you automatically followed in their footsteps.

Three hours later, the media was satisfying its need for more details. They had taken pictures and film footage of the Coreys and asked them questions, that seemed totally inane to Reid, but were carefully fielded by The Police Chief so that the Corey's didn't feel totally over-whelmed by the event. However, the Corey's were good-natured enough with all the attention and stressed that they were just happy to be a whole family again. The hungry Michael put a stop to the session with his persistent cry and the Corey's made their good-humoured exit before his sister joined her brother in sympathy.

Once the Coreys had left, Spencer stepped forward and sat this time at the table that had been placed on the stage and Kenneth Dunbar came to sit beside him. Reid felt more confident with the situation today particularly because he had some sound facts at his fingertips.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for your help yesterday and for your patience. As I promised last night, I can now give you a fuller account that will be more satisfying to your listeners and readers," he said with a charming smile that was in total contrast to his demeanour the previous evening. It was deliberate as Reid was determined to put on a good performance, one that was worthy of Aaron Hotchner.

"I have a distressing list of crimes to inform you about, the abduction of a child is always distressing but a new baby is particularly heart rending because of the joy that a new child brings to a family. These abductions go back 50 years and were originally perpetrated by Ann-Marie Brown, the mother of Sandra Brown, who was assisted by her late sister, Ann-Maria Yeggar. These women only ever abducted a twin. They said their reasoning for this was that they were not taking an only child and the birth mother still had a baby left to bring up. But also there seemed to have been less interest in the disappearance of a twin, and the authorities were more inclined to think that the family was involved in the disappearance in some way. There was no consideration as to the emotional turmoil that their action wrought upon the families targeted. These families had no idea who had taken their baby or where they had gone. Inevitably some were even suspected of killing their own child and covering up the act or that the baby had died suddenly and they had panicked and again hidden the body. Such rumours do not easily go away and put further strain on family relationships and some broke. Other families moved away from an area to try and get away from the rumours that persisted Some parents have died never knowing that their child was adopted and was living in a wealthy family… I must stress that these women did make sure that these children, their own included, did go to wealthy families...

Sandra Brady even remarked to me that she felt she was doing these childless couples a service because she recognised her ability to have children easily but she was not maternal herself. However, they also made sure that they were paid well for giving up their child. As you know there are laws that limit the payment to mothers giving up babies for adoption and these are usually limited to medical fees being re-imbursed. These women got round this by making arrangements for cash to be handed over to the mother at a discreet place the day before the adoption hearing and a final extra payment after the proceedings.

We know that such payments should not have occurred. However, checking the finances of these two women, we found that money was gradually added to various bank accounts across several states following the time of the adoptions. Ann-Marie Brown and Sandra Brady were always careful that payment was never made into an account in a state where they were placing a child up for adoption. Furthermore, the payments into the other 'out of state accounts' were always spread over several months so as not to raise any suspicions but they do not correspond to any money legitimately earned during the same period.

However, while placing their own biological children up for adoption is legal, participating in the kidnap of another baby and perpetuating a fraud by placing this abducted child for adoption is illegal. It was a very smooth operation ladies and gentlemen and this is how they did it…"

The audience sat enthralled with the detailed list of names and where the biological children had been placed for adoption quite legally and then the demise of the kidnapped baby. Over the course of the next 20 minutes they discovered that 16 children had been illegally put up for adoption following abduction; 10 of these illegally adopted children had been given up by Ann-Marie Brown. This woman sometimes used that name or her maiden name of Yeggar or her sister's name of Ann-Maria Yeggar and at other times she used Ann-Marie Philips Brown.

"Ann-Marie Brown had then helped her daughter, Sandra, by assisting her to put kidnapped babies up for adoption although by this time they had adapted their technique to fit the modern times. As both mother and daughter were legal secretaries they were well acquainted with the law and the lengths childless couples would go to adopt a healthy child. They had been, up until the last abduction, scrupulous in choosing neighbouring states to live simultaneously. The mother, like her sister had done, choosing the isolated property which her daughter shared for half the time of the pregnancy. This enabled Sandra to establish her presence in the neighbourhood and attend a different local hospital under a different name to the hospital where Sandra was attending that was close to where the she was also living in rented accommodation under another of her names….." the audience were fascinated by the details being revealed.

"So you see, Sandra was registered as Sandra Krystan for the Chambersburg Hospital but in Hagerstown she was living as Sandra Brady and registered at the Hagerstown Hospital under that name," Reid patiently explained to clarify a reporter's question. He pointed to another who had been waving his hand enthusiastically for attention.

"Yes,"

" Evan Leas, Baltimore Post, Dr. Reid you have stated that as we speak there are agents contacting their illegally adopted children for DNA samples to prove the true identity of these children. But can you say what the legal position of the adoptive parents is and that of the biological parents, particularly as some of Sandra Brady's adoptions are still under 18?"

"A very good question, Mr Leas, and it reveals a legal minefield. Yes, there are five of her illegal adoptions under 18," Reid smoothly clarified and the audience stared wide-eyed at the reminder. Spencer was pleased that the details were beginning to take on the horror of the consequences that those working on the background of the case had realised yesterday.

"The adopting parents did not know that the child they were adopting had been kidnapped. I'm sure that you can appreciate how quickly the appearance of a new baby changes although some of these children might have a distinct resemblance, now older, to one of their biological parents or a composite of both! So far all the families concerned have consented to DNA testing but had they refused we would have applied for a court order. The results of these tests will prove the identity and the innocence of the biological parents and free them from any clouds of suspicion that they may have been living under during the years since the disappearance of their child. However, the children themselves only know their adoptive parents who may be very good parents and love these children. But at the same time you can understand the desire of the biological parents to want their child back in the fold of their true family. I'm not a lawyer and believe this to be a legal minefield which will take some unravelling."

"But didn't you say that these women only targeted women who were expecting twins so the biological mother would not be totally childless…So surely, they showed some kind of twisted compassion…" the reporter pressed again.

"Mr. Leas, I think your expression 'some kind of twisted compassion' is superficially apt but this was not compassion. The facts are that they calculatingly targeted twins because they noticed after the first abduction that there was less of an outcry from the media and police with a missing twin because the authorities were inclined to think that something had happened to them within the family. A single child taken away would have possibly created more of a media circus and F.B.I. interest… I'm sure that Mr. and Mrs Fairmen have never forgotten their twin daughter, Laura, and she is now 20 years old and studying in New York. That heartache of a child that disappears never goes away; every parent in that situation wants closure. Just because Laura was a twin that does not erase the fact that she was taken from her loving family. I understand from Detective Dunbar here, that the Fairmens' are eager to meet her and her adoptive family," Reid clearly stated not wanting the cruel heartache that these women had inflicted over the years to be lessened because they tried to justify the impact of their crime. He hoped that any court would see beyond this apparent thoughtful gesture of deliberately taking a twin so the mother wouldn't feel totally bereft. Reid was appalled by the women's actions and had hoped that Andrea would destroy both of them in court, although their full confession now made a detailed court battle out of the question.

Katie Cole sat with Don Findall in his office at Quantico and watched the media conference from Hagerstown on Don's television. Don knew other people at Quantico would be doing the same because this was quite a spectacular news story. There were 16 cases of missing children that had been cleared up although the consequences for the families concerned would continue. Reid had been correct to point to the suspicions that would now be lifted from the biological parents. Rumour was a cruel and dangerous weapon in a community and Don could imagine some of the hurts inflicted upon innocent people over the years.

"He's done an excellent job on this case," Katie said and was genuinely pleased with the young agent's actions and his present handling of the press and television exposure. She thought at times that she was reminded of Hotch in his manner on that stage.

"Yes, Max particularly thought that Gideon wasn't handling his future training well and as you know, Max has managed to get more rigorous monitoring of training procedures over the past year. Reid's doing well with your unit," Don stated and watched Katie's reaction. She seemed to be looking well rested and eager to give praise where it was due. Max had been hoping that they could send her back to College Park, where Arthur would be keeping an eye on her, although Max felt that intervention had come at the right point to save this dedicated woman's career. Don wondered if she would be moved later in the year, in one sense it would be a great shame with all the expertise that she had acquired over the years at the CACU. It was a very tough placement but she had made it a good supportive environment for the agents working there even if they had not necessarily seen their boss step on the road to self-destruction. Perhaps with the present cuts Katie Cole would survive for longer than they had initially thought especially if she had learnt her lesson from the experience with alcohol. It would be now up to herself to show the Bureau again that she was able to cope with the pressures of a job that she obviously enjoyed and was very good at.

After the media conference, Spencer Reid made the effort to talk with the Hagerstown Police officers who had been involved with the case. He had learnt from Hotch that a few minutes of 'networking' after a case could work wonders if they were ever called to the area again. It had annoyed Reid at how brusque Gideon could be sometimes because he often just wanted to get back to base. It was Gideon's way of coping with the stress of the work, particularly if it was a gruesome case, but a few 'thank yous' and "pleasure to have worked with your department" could help oil the wheels of contact for other Bureau departments too.

Amanda was also willing to stay for the extra mug of coffee before driving them back and liked the way that Spencer Reid gave everyone credit in the emotional investigation. She was now driving back to College Park but she noticed that the young deputy seemed to be very quiet and wondered what he was thinking about. The whole unit had noticed that he and Danielle were working behind the scenes on something special and the death of Brian Rankin had really shaken the team working on that case. She hoped Katie would be back soon.

Reid was in his own thoughts thinking about how to break into the Torte site's hidden world. He was happy to let his mind bury itself on this problem because it was easier than thinking about the consequences of the case he had just solved.

End of Chapter 14


	15. Chapter 15

**The Interregnum: Chapter 15 **

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

Spencer Reid walked swiftly through the CACU towards the deputy's office; many of his colleagues grinned and acknowledged his arrival. Reid nodded to them but he was not in the mood for talking any more about the case and was just relieved that the Corey family was once more complete. It still troubled him that the legal implications from the case were multiplying and he seemed to have opened a can of worms by catching Ann-Marie Brown and her daughter. He noticed as he passed by the television that his news conference was being shown and his remark to Evan Leas about the illegal adoptions rang out again… "..it reveals a legal minefield. Yes, there are five of her illegal adoptions under 18…"

Reid sighed and quickened his pace and closed the office door to shut out the discussion on the case. He sank down on his chair and picked up the pile of admin messages that had accumulated through the day. Spencer also found a hand written note from Danielle, "Katie rang wanting to congratulate you on the handling of the Corey case. She sounded the most upbeat I've heard her in a long time. Try to get home to Jo earlier than last night."

Spencer smiled to himself, it had been a hell of a case but they had solved it. Now he had to unwind and try to get it out of his mind so he could concentrate on the Rankin case but that was all easier said than done. The psychologist in him knew he had to close the door on his thoughts arising from the past two days, but he kept thinking about how he and Jo might have coped if any child of theirs had been kidnapped. Spencer recalled how they often cared for Lydia and Ben for a few hours if Melinda and Craig wanted to spend time as a couple. Reid found that he enjoyed these times, it was like having a practise run at being parents without the full responsibilities, but what if one of the children was taken while they were looking after them?

'It's not going to happen!' said the firm voice of his inner reason but the disturbing thoughts had still bubbled to the surface.

It was the same with a BAU case; during the few hours following a case closure his mind would work overtime reviewing its details and assessing how they had tackled it and if things could have been approached differently. It was part of the case review procedures when they would come together as a team and debrief but once done it helped to provide the closure they all needed to move on. There were always the odd cases that particularly left its mark but then that was for the Head of the Unit or the Senior Psych to pick up on and sometimes a few quiet words alone were enough to help settle an agent's persistent thoughts. However, sometimes some 'uneasy' thoughts persisted and were discussed at an agent's regular psych evaluation. Dr. Reid's new experiences at helping with these had in one sense re-assured him just how normal a reaction the self-questioning could be. Part of him wished that Danielle had been in the office when he returned just so he could talk though some of his re-occurring thoughts. If Katie had been there he suspected that she would have asked him to her office to talk the events through and then give her opinion on the case. As a deputy he had done that for the other agents in the Unit, the informal listening over the coffee or in passing at the desk, but there was no one there at that moment for him.

There was a rap on the door and Spencer jumped at the sudden sound.

"Come in," he called wondering who it was this time of the evening.

The smiling face of the dapper Adam Priest came through the door and he quietly closed it before coming to stand before the desk.

"Security told me that your Lexus was still in the car park. Just wanted to say that the Director has been in touch and he was very impressed with your work on the Corey case."

Spencer swiftly interjected, "It wasn't just me working on that case there was Melanie Hurst, who stayed with the Coreys, and I valued her assessment of the situation. Danielle co-ordinated the initial visit to Ann-Marie Brown from here. Then there was all the background work Robert did and Chris helped him and later Tony aswell. Tony could have gone home after his court prep with Roy but he stayed behind to help Robert. He and Chris then briefed the night shift agents who were going to continue the information gathering on those two women. It all meant, that by the time I confronted them this morning, I could go for the jugulars! So it wasn't just me…" Spencer explained wanting to spread the credit for the successful outcome of the case.

Adam Priest listened and thought how 'team orientated' this young man was and a humble man despite all the attention he was now getting and must have received in the past for just being a genius. People liked Reid because he wasn't arrogant where as another man, with his gifts, might have considered himself very superior to those around him. Adam sensed that the younger man needed to talk a little and as Katie wasn't there to hear his verbal report he decided to stay a little longer.

"Yes, I understand and I did ask Danielle for the names of those who had specifically worked on the case. The Director wanted an initial report in case he was asked any questions before your more detailed one reaches his desk; he too likes to give credit to the team of people involved. But don't play down your part Spencer… You had the idea and joined the dots when the odd facts began to come to light," Adam persisted.

"But I also had the good fortune to work with a police detective who was good at his job and remembered an old case that had always stuck with him…one that he has now helped to solve."

" Ah yes, Kenneth Dunbar persuaded his Chief that a call to this Unit was the best thing they could do following the Amber Alert. The Police Chief is basking in the success for his department but he also rang me this afternoon to say how impressed he was with you and Agent Hurst for your professionalism. He felt he had to tell me how much you were appreciated because you listened to his people and made them feel that their knowledge was important to the case. He also liked how you didn't just rush off after the news conference but stayed a while to thank his people personally for all the help they had put in. Now that's all good diplomacy and gives an excellent impression. The smaller police departments can feel a bit overwhelmed by a specialist unit like this one. They knew that the FBI could be needed with a kidnapping across state boundaries but you tried your utmost to include the Hagerstown Police Department at every turn. Now that's good for our image and it gets back to the right people which is why the Director, myself and Katie Cole are all pleased with your actions…

The Police Chief even faxed to me the local paper's coverage…Some nice photos of you and Dunbar over the past two days and again the CACU has got a good write up. It all helps to justify the decision not to cut personnel in this Unit or the other CACU trained people at the other Field Offices. All in all, you have done this Unit and the FBI generally a lot of good with all of this publicity so get used to people congratulating you," Adam stated softly but firmly in a manner that Spencer had come to know was his managerial style.

Spencer listened and he understood what the Agent in Charge of the College Park Complex was saying but it was the consequences that were troubling him and he tried to explain.

"It's just that there are so many people who are affected by this case. All the suspicions that the biological parents may have endured over the years and the strain that must have put on relationships. People who thought that they were legally adopted and now find that they were kidnapped and have families who have never forgotten them. Adoptive parents who may have made extra illegal payments to those women but they had been desperate to be parents and have probably loved those children as much as their biological parents would have done. Then there are the children still under 18, they have only known the adoptive parents and now the biological parents want them back. Like I said it's a legal minefield and there are a lot of people who are feeling afraid of what is going to happen next...adults and children alike."

Adam Priest sighed and sat down on the chair before the desk. "I agree it is a legal minefield but Spencer you have solved 16 cases of missing children…for those parents you have given them closure. Lets face it, when a child goes missing all too often closure is a dead body. I like to think that you have at least given hope of some kind of understanding…between the adoptive and biological parents because I don't know how any of this is going to be resolved. Like you said, the children have only known their adoptive parents and they are probably just as frightened and confused as everybody else with the facts that you have revealed. However, the children appear to have thrived so there is a lot to be thankful for and it is now out of your hands but I personally hope that an understanding will be reached by all the adults concerned so the children can come to terms with the revelations. Katie was very pleased with it all when I saw her this afternoon and the fact that you did raise the deeper issues of the case."

Reid looked up, "You saw Katie, how is she?" he asked knowing what Adam was doing by listening and giving his experienced opinions. Adam Priest was now turning the conversation to a more positive note because there were no easy answers for the aftermath of this case.

"Katie was looking really well and the enforced rest has done her good, she'll be back soon," Adam said smiling and pleased with himself that he had got the young genius out of his brooding mood. Deep in his heart, Spencer knew that Adam had spoken sensibly about the aftermath of the case but the agent still had to work it out of his system.

Dr. Spencer Reid walked into his home at just after 10 o'clock and was thankful to see the smiling face of his beloved Jo.

"You're famous, every news station I've turned to has had snippets from your news conference. That couple looked so delighted to have their little daughter back…they seemed nice decent people."

"Yeah, they were…Sorry I'm a bit late but I went back to the office and then Adam Priest called in and we had a chat. Then I thought I'd clear the admin that had piled up since the morning," he explained going over to the sofa and flopping down beside her. He reached out to pull her close into an embrace.

"I was putting the black bags out for the garbage collection tomorrow and Bernie, across the street, was doing the same and came over to chat because he'd seen you on the news."

"Oh god…I hate the publicity I'm getting over this," he moaned.

"I know and I told him that you never talked about your work once out of the office and I would get to know just as much as he did …from the news."

"Thanks…I don't want to get into the situation where I annoy the neighbours by being cornered over a beer and then having to give them the brush off…"

"I know, but you are famous…that book of yours for a start keeps getting mentioned and people are just curious…You're in the news and live in their road…its like they want to have a piece of your fame because they can say that they know you."

"Yeah but I don't like talking about the work. Its like when I was a profiler with the BAU, some people just want the goriest details! I don't mind telling people that I work for the CACU but that's it… I want to forget about work when I come home! Sorry, this case is quite upsetting because of the long term consequences for a lot of innocent people," he tried to explain and couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.

Spencer hugged Jo, breathing in her fading jasmine perfume that always helped to bring good memories flooding to the fore.

Jo sensed that he was tired and also seemed a bit down. She felt he needed some good food inside him to balance the usual snatched snacks they tended to eat while on a case.

"There's some vegetable lasagne left that will only take a few minutes in the microwave," she suggested to tempt him.

"Mmm that sounds nice... any chance of coffee?" he asked hopefully.

"Spencer, you'll not sleep, why not have a tea instead?" she sensibly countered as she rose from the sofa and turned back to face him. He looked like a small child who had found only a plain cookie left in the jar rather than a nice chocolate covered one.

"Has anyone ever told you that you sound like your mother?" he said in a disappointed voice.

Her black eyes immediately flashed, "Only when they know that I'm talking sense!" she flew back at him and Spencer grinned. Jo was a fascinating mix of both her parents and then there was the unifying thread, of both of these sets of genes, with the something that was totally and uniquely Jo.

Spencer put on his 'little boy lost look' for effect and tried again, "But the awful stuff that we drank out on the job…its nothing like the freshly ground beans we have here. Even the very smell of those beans are so tempting," he said closing his eyes at the thought of the heavenly aroma.

"Spencer you're addicted to coffee!" she pronounced and then instantly felt guilty at her words. They still had the lab people who would call without warning, or turn up at his work, wanting a urine sample to test despite all those tests being negative. She wondered when the Bureau would finally accept that Spencer was not addicted to Dilaudid or any other powerful illegal drug…Well caffeine was a drug but it was not illegal. She looked into his big sunken brown eyes that seemed so sensitive to her particularly at this time of night…

"I suppose you could have a small cup to accompany your meal," she conceded and Spencer beamed a smile that lit up the room and watched her make her way to the kitchen. He loved Jo; she was his hold on normality in the disturbing world where he often found himself working.

Spencer Reid turned and faced the blue numerals that stared back at him, 02:27. The illuminated numbers taunted him, Jo had been right to caution against freshly ground coffee but it had been so wonderfully smooth and sensual with its dark aroma…She was also right about his caffeine addiction. But he knew it was more than the coffee that was now keeping him awake, it was a concoction of memories that were awakened by the case that mixed kidnapping with childhood vulnerability.

He had been a vulnerable child but he had slipped through the net of social services because he had worked hard not to alert their suspicions. Spencer had dreaded the thought of foster care when he was younger… Living with a mother who was a schizophrenic had not been easy but at least he had learnt to deal with the mood swings of the illness along with the effects of medication she took and sometimes refused to take. For the young Spencer it was far better to be dealing with the devil he knew than a foster family he did not while also coping with the bullying he received for being the 'little know all' at school. Things were much better when he spent most of the week staying with the Bishops on the university campus although he still had to return for the weekends, but he had got it all down to a fine art. Eventually though, just like his father, Spencer had got to a point where he had to be himself and break away because he had to admit that his mother needed far more care than he could personally ever give.

He knew from reading his father's journal that as soon as William Reid had got on the plane to England that he was haunted every day by his actions. Spencer knew that his father loved him and regretted leaving him behind but he also now knew that William Reid had feared for his wife's life if he had taken Spencer with him. It was an odd relationship that Spencer had with his mother. As a child he had often felt totally in the way of her career and there were times when she maniacally worked for hours on end and ignored him if she wanted to follow through an idea for her work. He had been content to follow his own reading and delving into the vast knowledge that books contained. At other times she would direct his reading and she also read to him, an act that became particularly important to her after William had left. However, this intensity of shared readings also served to isolate the young Spencer from his peers even more as the lonely Diana increasingly demanded his company. For Spencer these times were often the only way to feel close to his mother even if he had not wanted to be plunged into Medieval literature as if he was one of his mother's students. All this attention also only served to remind him of the more normal social contacts he had when his father had been living with them and the sorrow at his leaving.

But William had been concerned that had he taken Spencer with him then Diana would have had nothing to keep her slender thread of life attached to any form of normality. Spencer as a child quickly came to realise that he represented that form of normality for his mother. He at least had his own timetabled life and often that meant caring for both of them and telling lies so people never realised just how ill his mother was. Spencer was an accomplished liar when he had to be but he had finally stopped lying for his mother and admitted that she needed institutional care for her own well being. It was at that was the moment that Spencer Reid truly became an adult and knew that he would have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. He was still haunted by the scene when they came to take her into hospital to be assessed for long term admission…It was so vivid a memory, he recalled every detail of the incident when he was given Dilaudid. But in his heart he knew he had done the right thing and that he had been far stronger than his father… William Reid had not been strong enough to have his wife committed because he loved her too much that he didn't want to witness her distress and sense of betrayal as she was taken away from her home.

'You can't alter the past,' his inner voice of reason chided him at the way his mind kept raking over his childhood, 'You are who and what you are because of those experiences and they are to be turned for the greater good,' he firmly told himself. Spencer closed the door on his childhood memories but the Corey case bubbled to the surface again…

But what of those innocent children who had been kidnapped and adopted? Suddenly their worlds were going to shatter now. He wondered how they would be feeling to learn that their biological parents wanted to see them…how would those adoptive parents be feeling…their own worlds suddenly invaded by the police and the media?

He couldn't go round in circles again and that was where he was headed, 'There is absolutely nothing you can do now, the ball is firmly out of your court,' his inner voice of reason firmly pronounced.

Spencer wondered if he ought to get up and make some camomile tea to help him get some sleep. He finally carefully swung his long thin legs out of the bed, without waking Jo, and padded down to the kitchen.

Jo had shaken him just before 8 o'clock with the news that pancakes were for breakfast. He had dragged himself to the shower in the hope that the water would wake up his tired brain but it was not much use and he'd dressed quickly to get in some breakfast before the routine of work.

Jo had made him pancakes with stewed apple for filling along with freshly brewed coffee. He ate quickly and hoped that he was not going to be too late this morning.

"Nice picture of you inside the Washington Post and a well balanced article on the issues raised about those illegal adoptions," said Jo as she looked up at him from behind the newspaper. "They mention that you're on secondment from the BAU and mention your book ...nice bit of free publicity that…and this journalist believes that your profiling skills were obviously put to good use on the case."

Spencer snorted as he gulped down the delicious coffee and felt his brain begin to kick into gear. He poured another large breakfast cup of his favourite drink. Jo raised an eyebrow but remained silent this time thinking that she'd said enough last night.

"What are your plans for today?" he asked wanting to get away from the case.

"I'm meeting Marilyn in Baltimore. Jeff has bought a house on the outskirts to add to the Baltimore portfolio and he wants it seen to. I'm not sure what kind of décor I'm going to find and Marilyn hasn't seen it either," she replied taking a sip of her own coffee.

"Right…well I'd better get going as I don't want to be too late because I think it sets a bad example," he said gulping down more coffee.

Jo looked a little exasperated, "Spencer, you often work late so getting in a few minutes later than normal is not exactly setting a bad example," she reasoned.

He pushed back his chair, "I'm a deputy and I think it goes with the territory," he replied and kissed her head in passing as he went out into the entrance hall.

"Take care," Jo shouted after him as she heard the closet door open and a minute later the front door close. Jo rose and collected the breakfast dishes and arranged them in the dishwasher. She wondered what sort of wreck Jeff had found that needed a 'complete make-over'.

It was 8:58 when Spencer passed through the doors of the CACU and the colourful Dee beamed her greeting, "Good morning, Spencer…Katie's back!"

Reid's spirits plummeted, he was late and the boss was back… 'Of all the days to be late,' he thought.

Dee read the situation and softly added, "Don't worry, you have had several very long days…She's got Adam in her office with her at the moment so she won't know what time you came in," she assured.

"What time did she get in?" Spencer asked to judge his own late appearance.

"I don't know, Danielle and I met in the elevator so got in together and that was around 8:20, but she just seemed in a very good mood and happy to see everyone again…"

Spencer nodded and continued on his way to the deputy's office. Danielle looked up from her computer screen,

"Morning! Dee tell you that Katie's back?"

"Yeah…so I'm late," he said sinking into his chair and wondering what else could go wrong today after the successes of the previous days.

"Spencer you've been working hard on that Corey case and before that there was the Rankin murder. You put in a lot of hours and no one begrudges you the occasional later than usual arrival," Danielle said evenly and looked hard at the younger agent. In her opinion he looked tired and probably needed a few more late mornings or at least some early nights.

Spencer picked up the pile of internal admin, "You wouldn't believe it but I cleared my desk before going home last night," he moaned scanning the latest messages.

"I believe you but you know the Bureau…internal mail and all these notices, half of which I forget…You at least remember what you read, but early last year I forgot about the women's room on the sixth level being decorated. After a meeting, I walked straight in there without thinking and stepped into a tray of paint…Ruined a new pair of shoes, my pants…"

"And left a trail of footprints back here," finished Katie with laughter in her voice She startled both the deputies who turned and saw Katie's beautiful dark eyes sparkling with humour at the memory.

"I'm not going to live that one down am I?" replied Danielle ruefully.

"Well not if you keep telling people about it!" Katie shook her head in an attempt to clear her memory, "Now back to business, meeting with Roy in my office at 11o'clock and Spencer can I have a private word with you now please," Katie said and turned to go back to her own working space.

Spencer pushed back his chair.

"Don't look so worried, " Danielle whispered, "She's pleased with how we coped without her."

Spencer managed a weak smile and was grateful for Danielle's quiet support but he was not feeling his best today and felt quite drained emotionally and physically.

He entered Katie's office and she looked up with warmth in her expression,

"Why don't you help yourself to coffee…you look as if you could do with some."

Spencer didn't need to be told twice and went over to the percolator to fill a mug with the dark aromatic brew. He then returned to sink into the chair before her desk.

"I wanted to thank you for your discreet care about my welfare before Christmas. It's very apparent that you have not discussed the matter and people here just think I had a very bad bout of flu with a lingering chest infection. However, I'm sure that you're very aware that I've had some counselling and I admit that I needed it and once more feel that I've got things into perspective again."

Spencer nodded and sipped his coffee, "Good, but it wasn't my place to talk about it. I thought I needed to professionally raise my concerns with Arthur but I left any action to him and stepped back. It's good to see you back again and you've missed out on some developments," he said judging her to be much calmer than the edginess that she had been displaying in December.

"Yes, the Director told me about things yesterday and how three of my own staff had even begun to question why we seemed to be losing too many cases…I gather even I was checked out and you and Jo!" she continued.

"Yes but Tony and Carl were only thinking of the unit and Robert refused to dig further into the Washington Office personnel. They assured me that if they had found something they would have gone to the Director…All three are very loyal to this Unit," replied Reid because he could understand the reasoning behind the men's actions.

"Yes, I think they are very loyal and I don't doubt that their intentions were for the greater good but thankfully Robert did put a halt to the digging before the real mole got wind of it."

"I did tell them that I'd informed the Director and he was aware of the situation, and someone was being watched, but they were now to concentrate on their normal work," interjected Spencer because he didn't want Katie to think that the men would jeopardise the work of the Unit.

"Yes, the Director told me and I'm pleased that you had the sense to act in the way you did, but it was also an excellent sign that Carl trusted you enough to tell you what they had been up to. It reveals just how much respect these agents have for you despite the very short amount of time you've been working here. The upper echelons have noticed and that goes well for your future with the Bureau. Do you think we ought to bring Tony and Carl in on the identity of the man involved?"

"No, I think the less who know the better," Spencer instantly replied.

"Good that's how I feel, but I wanted you to have your imput especially as you dealt with the situation when raised by Carl…

Now, we have had requests for you to appear on several television news programmes but I think it might be best to just do one…the late Friday night weekly news review. It will give you some breathing space for reflection and we will have some of the DNA results by then to confirm the facts of the activities of those two women. You'll feel more comfortable with some more solid facts to sprout at them," Katie said and her eyes twinkled with humour but Spencer didn't feel like rising to it. She noticed his mood and became suddenly serious, "I've also been informed that various parents have already been contacted, and the older adopted children, by journalists with cheque books in hand."

Spencer sighed, it was inevitable but he didn't think that money should be made out of this. Katie read his reaction and added,

"Spencer, some of those parents are going to be facing lengthy court battles and that costs money. Those children had been deliberately placed with wealthy families who themselves broke the law by making extra illegal payments to those women. I've no idea how the courts are going to interpret this mess but I can't imagine the adoptive parents giving up easily nor the biological ones."

"But it's the innocent children who are caught in the middle of this. They have only known their adoptive parents and must feel frightened and confused by these events," remarked Spencer although he knew that there was nothing he could do to make the situation better but it still depressed him.

"Spencer," Katie's quiet but firm voice commanded his attention, "You did your job, you did it very well and were an excellent representative out in the field for this specialist unit and the Bureau. But just like the work for the BAU, we have to close down after a case and let others pick up the pieces of the aftermath because our part is over and other cases need our attention."

Spencer nodded acknowledging the truth of her words but the aftermath for this case was going to be very messy and innocent children were in the middle with the courts being called upon to make decisions of where those children were going to be brought up. If the courts chose the adoptive parents, because they were the only caring family the child had known since a baby, then there was the question of access for the biological parents. The biological parents could claim if they didn't get custody, that their rights as the true parents were being over ridden when they were victims of the original crime of child kidnapping. Katie was right, he had to let go of the case but it was not easy.

He looked into her concerned face and smiled, "Yeah," was all he managed but it was enough and Katie changed the subject.

"You know I 'm forgetting my manners and I should have congratulated you on your marriage. Max came to see me with the news at Christmas and he was delighted about it in his very ' Max like' way! But I wasn't really surprised because you seemed a very steady couple."

Spencer couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, it all seemed to be along time ago now but it was in fact less than a month.

"Thanks, it was all very quiet and just how we wanted it…at Jo's family home and just with immediate family. It made it a very special Christmas for everyone."

Katie smiled warmly and was pleased to see the young agent suddenly relax once more in her presence and for the first time since he'd come into her office. Adam had told her about all the extra hours that he'd been putting in with the Rankin case and how he deliberately had tried to give Danielle her time with her family. There had been some in the senior management at the Bureau who thought that Reid was not ready to be given a deputy's responsibilities. But Spencer Reid was no ordinary agent and Max had been convinced that he would cope with it and so far he had hit the ground running. However, Katie thought that he looked desperately tired and even thinner than usual or was that because she had not been in the office for a few weeks?

" I was with Don when I saw the news conference you gave yesterday. We were very impressed with the way you handled yourself. Hotch would no doubt have been proud to know that you had learnt quite a lot from your time with him!" she said with humour in her voice and an eyebrow raised slightly to emphasise the last remark.

Spencer nodded, "I couldn't avoid the press conference but I thought how Hotch might handle it and tried to keep control of the event," he confessed and hoped that Hotch would appreciate the compliment if he had watched it.

Katie laughed out right then, "Spencer, you did very well with that difficult case and you got baby Eliza back with her parents on the same day she was taken. People are rightly impressed and don't try and play down your part, I've spoken with Adam and he told me that you are a real team player. I know you are but compliments should go your way when they are justified, although I know that receiving them is the hardest thing in the world when you consider that you were just doing your job."

Spencer nodded but he still felt that it had been a team effort, "Every one, and that includes the Hagerstown P.D., were working flat out. We got a good result but I think that I really have opened a can of vipers that will continue to slither through the legal system for some time to come."

Katie sadly smiled and knew that this agent was one of the most sensitive and empathic in her Unit but she was also grateful that he had a good home life because that would hopefully prevent him from burning out too quickly.

"Spencer you have solved the cases of 16 missing children…you have given parents answers after years of dreading the worse. I know its not easy but, just like with the BAU, you now have to shut the door on this case because there are others that need your attention and your unique abilities. The Director agreed with Max for your placement here to give you the experience to grow outside the BAU and they wouldn't have done that unless they felt that you had the abilities to cope here…you are too valuable an asset for the Bureau to want to lose you."

"Yes, I had quite a conversation with Adam last night but the implications for everyone involved still keep surfacing. I never thought I would untangle such a web of deceit and emotional distress from the kidnapping of a new baby. Actually, it was Detective Dunbar and his intuition, that it was very like another old unsolved case, that set my mind afire."

Katie nodded with understanding but wanted to bring him back to the more positive side of their work here.

"Spencer, CACU work isn't easy but we do have our triumphs and finding Eliza Corey was one of those and solving 16 other abduction cases was the icing on the cake. Everyone in the outer office was thrilled because it was a successful outcome. I know the reality is that many of the people here didn't actually work on the case but just being part of the same Unit is important. All too often we deal with hellish cases that the rest of society likes to remain blind too, but a success for the Unit is the plus side that makes working here worthwhile. We all need to know that the CACU wins through sometimes and yesterday we all tasted success…not forgetting the knock on effect for the FBI as a whole."

Spencer sat and listened to her words carefully, she was right of course, but if he stopped being the sensitive individual he was then he'd probably be useless for the work.

"Now lets try and turn to other more pressing matters…I'm trying to get some time scale in my head here, but am I right in thinking that you want to see Austin Shields again?"

"Oh yeah, you know he's been moved to Connecticut now?" Katie nodded and was pleased that he had clicked into the case that had been taking shape well before this genius had joined them.

"I would like to see him again but I want all the publicity from this case to have died down before I do. He's under another identity for protection and I don't want my recent fame to jeopardise that. However, I think he has been involved in the disposal of bodies…literally Katie. It was his reaction when I put a few things to him so I think we may be able to get more from him if we can keep him safe."

"I gather that you and Carl spent hours in silence to break his defences down?" pressed Katie gently to get him talking about the other case and away from the Corey kidnapping and its on going consequences.

"He'd been playing the silent prisoner act, thinking that by saying nothing he was avoiding awkward questions. But Carl was wonderful with his innate serenity and we just sat there and waited and totally unnerved the massive guy opposite us. He really had never been treated like that before and didn't liked the tables being turned on him," Spencer recalled and remembered the triumph of that Friday and the trust that Carl had also extended to him after by revealing the private suspicions of a mole. Spencer hoped that Carl would be able to join him again on the questioning of Shields.

"You're a very good psychologist and as far as I'm concerned I'm just glad you're on our side! Right, we'll get the late night news review programme out of the way this Friday; the case will soon be over taken by another hot news story. How about if I provisionally arrange a flight for the following Friday for you and Carl. I would like to come too but if you feel that I might cramp your style I'll understand."

"No, not at all, I mean you and Carl are experienced in this field and you may see another way into breaking down his barriers which we didn't…I don't mind at all,"Reid replied and smiled. He was relieved that Carl was being included because he thought they made a good team against this prisoner.

Spencer also acknowledged to himself that Katie was still an excellent manager, not only did she read the victims and perpetrators well, but she also knew her people in the CACU. The psychologist in him was aware of the way she had dealt with him correctly over his continuing thoughts on the Corey case. It was good to have her back and to see how she was quickly getting to grips with the cases again. He hoped that now people were aware of her stresses that they would be more supportive because she was excellent at the work.

" I've also been told that you have been making inroads into the Torte site," Katie began again and re-directed Spencer's thoughts once more.

"I'm going carefully but I think I may have a possible way of hacking into the secure system. I've been toying with the idea of leaning on Leith, as one of the weaker paedophiles, to check my present theories. But I'm not sure that he'd be able to keep his mouth shut and then the syndicate would realise we were on to them. Perhaps I ought to wait to see if Nigel gets a personal invitation to join the exclusive Torte site?" he replied explaining his current thinking.

Katie quietly listened and part of her felt out of her depth but another part instinctively trusted this young agent in his approach to the problem. He was being cautious and that was thoughtful considering the amount of work it had taken behind the scenes over many months to infiltrate the organisation. Spencer obviously didn't want to throw away all that quiet work by an unnecessary risk.

"Yes, I can see your thinking. Now we're into the New Year the venues might start up again but I gather Nigel hasn't been contacted yet. I know that your initial hacking into that spares site made quite a lot of work for Danielle. Why not keep your head down and work some normal hours for the rest of the week by helping her with some of that follow up work," she suggested and was pleased when the man looked quite happy at the thought of a few days being confined to the office.

Suddenly Katie's desk phone rang but she motioned for Reid to stay where he was.

"Hello, Andrea…I'm fine, how about you? Oh good, that's great! I'll tell him. He's with me at the moment and I'm sure that he'll appreciate that. Yes, I will, see you soon, bye."

Katie replaced the receiver and grinned at her agent, "Andrea says that she'll be alongside you for that news review programme on Friday evening. She'll help with any legal issues about the children."

Spencer nodded and suddenly he felt a lot better about the rest of the week. Having another television appearance seemed less daunting with the support of the Andrea and she would help to keep things in perspective.

"Good of Andrea to give up her evening," he replied and Katie nodded.

"Having Andrea on side just makes the world a better place doesn't it!" she remarked and the pair of them grinned at the truth behind those words.

When Spencer got back to his desk, Danielle had gone to a meeting with Roy to prep for her court appearance later in the week. He decided to check his e-mails and noted one from Hotch tagged 'Sunday lunch?' He clicked and read the message.

"Very impressed with your work on the Corey case, especially with how you handled the press conference. Nice to know that you learnt something while working under me! A lot of senior people have asked me questions about you so expect some attempts to head hunt you in the future. My own schedule has been changed and I'm now free this weekend, any chance of coming over for Sunday lunch? Keep up the good work. Hotch."

Spencer grinned to himself. He could hear Hotch's voice reading the message back to him in his head with that quiet voice that often hid his dry sense of humour. Spencer missed having Hotch's quiet steadiness in the background; he didn't have mood swings like Gideon or Katie. Aaron Hotchner was as solid as a rock in difficult situations and Spencer had drawn on that steadiness more than once during his time at the BAU. He reached for his cell and rang Jo, within minutes he sent a reply.

"Sunday lunch is fine, we'll arrive around midday unless told differently. Spencer."

Reid reflected how people who didn't know Hotchner thought him a dour and demanding taskmaster but Spencer thought him a fair and gifted natural leader. He was not arrogant in his dealings with people but if you crossed him, or the integrity of the Bureau, then he would come down hard. Aaron Hotchner demanded your best but you were always willing to give it because Hotch himself strove to give the job a 110 per cent and he trusted you to do the same and work as a team for the best outcome on a case.

There was also a compassionate man that the agents sometimes witnessed when Hotch dealt with victims or their families and the rare glimpse of the family man. Spencer had always liked to work alongside him because he sensed an unspoken trust between them. He also felt that Hotch had treated him with respect for his talents and had tried to guide him to apply those gifts to the work of the BAU. Spencer hoped that they would both return one day to work together back at Quantico but there was no telling how long 'the interregnum' would be.

Spencer had observed over the years how Hotch had managed to keep his family life and work separate and still keep a healthy balance. Reid knew that he was trying to emulate that balance but he wasn't sure that he'd achieved it yet. But Spencer felt honoured to be invited to the Hotchner home and longed for the Hotchners to meet Jo. He hoped they would like her because he'd tried to find someone who fitted all the criteria that Spencer had formed in his own mind from observing the Hotchners' marriage from afar.

He stopped rambling in his mind and turned once more to the Rankin case and the list of people that had been revealed on the Torte site.

Meanwhile, the BAU was busily working away at the Quantico site. Barry walked from his office with a file of papers under his arm and headed for the area where Prentiss and Morgan sat.

"Prentiss, Morgan I need you in the conference room and…" he looked around the bullpen and then called over to the other two agents he wanted, "Anderson and Lorenz…conference room… I want you to give some imput on this case now the old team is so depleted… I think we need some new minds to help give another perspective."

Prentiss and Morgan briefly gave each other a look of interest, each wondering who would be on this case, although neither thought that Anderson or Lorenz would be sent out into the field on their own.

Barry strode towards the steps to lead the way and then suddenly turned and added,

"This case will be yours Morgan, you'll soon see why."

Derek Morgan felt a rush of excitement through his body with the knowledge that he would finally be taken away from the confines of the bullpen. He bounced up the steps his whole being fizzing away with a revived enthusiasm for the job and life itself.

End of Chapter 15


	16. Chapter 16

**The Interregnum: Chapter 16 **

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**My apologies to my readers for the delay in typing up this chapter. Unfortunately, there is only one computer in this house and I have been last in line to use it since the beginning of this year due to my husband's work commitments and my son who is in the final year of his degree. I hope that the delay does not impair any enjoyment of the story.**

By the time the agents had joined Barry in the conference room he was activating the large screen ready to draw up the data he had put on the memory stick he had plugged in.

"I've had a request from a police captain in California who came on one of our courses last summer so he's aware of our work and the jargon. Rodney Luis has been getting reports of small isolated fires that have been getting more frequent or perhaps, because they started asking questions, more of the locals began to report them. Then yesterday they had a fire involving a small incendiary device, the second one in a week. He thinks it's the same unsub and he's escalating…"

"Why does he think it's the same unsub?" asked Morgan immediately keying into his case.

"The first fires began about 6 months ago. They were always small and in isolated spots but the area around them had been cleared and a ditch created as a kind of fire break…Like this…" said Barry bringing up the shots of examples of the sites of the camp fires on to the screen.

"So the unsub was practising," the prematurely bald Lorenz interjected.

"That's what Captain Luis believes but how long has he been practising is the question. It is only because a landowner told Luis about what he'd found on his land, and similar sites on his land some miles apart, that Luis went to have a look out of curiosity. The ditch was a common feature and deadwood had been collected and no other harm seems to have been done to the surrounding countryside, but the landowner was puzzled because he was not aware of campers in the area. However, Luis instructed his officers to have a quiet word with farmers in the area in case they had noticed similar fires…a little larger than a normal camp fire but always with the fire break 'ditch' as the pictures show. Over the months, the officers collected evidence of 30 little fires that didn't cause any real damage but were carefully constructed."

"It's kids!" interjected Anderson, "Probably just teenagers making a camp fire and enjoying the fact that they could control the element and get away with it There doesn't seem to be any harm done so why all the hype?"

"Yes, that's how Luis and his people at first viewed it but there were no other signs of a camp out at these sites. Come on people, if its kids they were probably having a quiet smoke and perhaps some beer from home. However, there were no signs of butt ends, cans or any other human rubbish like sweet wrappers…in fact these areas were clean of any signs of humans," Barry explained and the room attentively listened as the information began to take hold of their imaginations. The four agents stared at Barry waiting for the next instalment.

"On the evening of Christmas Eve there was a small fire that destroyed a disused farm shop. The Lompoc Fire Brigade at first thought that it was an electrical fire because it appeared to have been started by the fuse box but then they were suspicious when the owner told them that the electrical wiring had all been removed last year. The owner had been thinking of renovating but then the couple, who had wanted to rent the building for a country crafts shop, failed to get the funding they needed."

The screen was filled with images taken of the burnt building and there were several photographs of the area around the metal fuse box but the most charring was just beneath it indicating the site of the initial fire.

Then, on December 31st, an old barn was destroyed by fire. It was thought to be an act of vandalism but, after the evidence of the previous little fires, Luis began to wonder if it was the same unsub and he was getting more ambitious. Then last night there was another fire, an old farmhouse that was up for sale. The Fire Brigade thought they might have found the bits of a crude timing device…" continued Barry as he brought up the fire brigade pictures of the site and a small crushed and charred box with wires sticking out.

To the normal observer this small object might have been missed but to those whose work touched sometimes upon arson, like Morgan, it was significant. Morgan looked upon the mangled box of plastic, metal and wood and in his mind he had reconstructed the device already.

"When do I get going?" asked Morgan who was straining at the leash.

"When we've discussed the possibilities," Barry firmly reminded him, "And you'll have plenty of time to review the information that Luis has documented for us because we have got you a flight to Santa Barbara for 3:48 and then you'll have a 55 mile drive to Lompoc city. Heather has booked you a rental car from the airport and a room at a small and central hotel near the Police Headquarters."

Morgan was suddenly brought back to earth with a thud. Of course it had to be a commercial flight and it all took time…They had been spoilt to have the jet for a few years at their disposal.

"So has Luis considered the local teenagers and loners?" asked Emily to get more information out in the open to start the ideas following.

"Oh yes, the city is very active in its community programs with the young and it has a reputation for being quite a safe place and attracts families for the schools and recreational facilities. They do have the Vandenberg Air Force Base nearby that provides some local employment but they don't get much trouble that way…"

"Arsonists are usually males with some education. Some just do it for the excitement while others are reacting to an emotional stressor in their lives. Then there are the 'revenge' attacks, or those for covering up a crime but this doesn't really hint at that…My feelings would lean towards a troubled young man, late teens or early twenties…perhaps having relationship issues with women," Anderson stated thoughtfully after weighing up what had been presented before them.

"Yeah…I'd make a beeline for the High Schools and Colleges to see if any of the stressed out students were beginning to be noticed…" added Lorenz.

"It doesn't always work like that with arsonists," stated Morgan, "He may not stand out, rather the opposite, if he is reacting to a stressor then he's not necessarily overtly showing it but rather suppressing his reactions. The stress is manifesting itself in this destructive way with the unsub trying to control a very primitive but potentially deadly element of fire because he can't control the stressor in his life. If it is the same unsub, and it's a big if at this point, then the jump from camp like fires in isolated country to disused buildings...and possibly a timing device indicates a growing stress and, or growing sophistication in his methods. But equally it may all just indicate two different unsubs. The fires being kids or one particular teenager experimenting while the more recent attacks on the buildings being the work of an older and more disturbed individual," said Morgan thinking aloud.

Barry nodded and knew that Morgan would enjoy being out of the building for a few days and some of the unit would also appreciate a little break from him. When Morgan got bored he tended to pick on people to annoy with his particular sharp wit, which he liked to think of as humour. Prentiss had managed to curb him quite a lot since Reid had left but in the run up to Christmas Barry was very aware of having to pull Morgan's behaviour into line. Barry was pleased that his recent engagement had been for the better but at the back of Barry's mind was still a feeling that Angela might not be strong enough to curb Morgan's big ego.

Suddenly Prentiss was speaking and Barry was shaken out of his thoughts.

"At what time were the fires noticed?" she asked and the men all realised that they had not been given that information by Barry.

"The camp fire type were not noticed until they were cold so no approximate time of day can be verified. The various buildings all took place in the evening. The farm shop fire was noticed just after 9 o'clock on Christmas Eve, the old barn fire was rung into the Fire Brigade at 8:54 p.m. and the last one at 9:22 p.m.

"Mmm so the earlier camp fires could be just kids during the daytime using isolated spots to mess around in," said Lorenz and Anderson nodded his agreement with his colleague.

"Well I'd like to speak with the people who noticed them and the fire brigade," replied Morgan because he was trying to keep an open mind and wanted to get a feel for this by visiting the actual locations."

The discussion didn't seem to be progressing any further other than the general outlines of arsonists and Barry knew that Morgan wanted to be moving…

"Go on get out of here and my regards to Captain Luis... he's a very capable LEO," said Barry handing him the file. Morgan flashed him a grin and leapt from the chair and through the door.

There was a collective sigh in the room after he had gone and Prentiss smiled at the three men,

"I'm sure that Angela loves him!" she declared not quite managing to suppress the laughter and Anderson and Lorenz grinned back at her.

"Angela's too nice for him, I hope he appreciates her," said Barry quietly closing down the screen as the others rose to go back to their desks and the profiles that had been requested.

Spencer Reid got home at just after 6 o'clock but the house was still dark and he felt disappointed that Jo had not been there. However, it reminded him just how often his own hours were later than the normal commuters of the neighbourhood.

He turned on lights and made his way to the kitchen to make a pot of Earl Grey tea for a change. Jo was right he really did drink far too much coffee especially when he was working. He checked through the mail he had taken from the mailbox but most of it were mail shots or bank and credit card statements. He opened them but was relieved that they were still in credit and the credit card demand had been paid by Jo at the end of December and she had not spent anything using her card since.

He poured a cup of the strong aromatic tea and wandered into the living room and avoided switching on the television. He sank back onto the sofa and closed his eyes and just enjoyed the silence of the house for a few minutes.

After his second cup of tea he opened his lute case and gently took out his old friend and began to tune the strings.

Jo got in at 7:30 after staying to discuss the plans for the Baltimore property with Jeff who had been busy with clients all afternoon. She was surprised but pleased that Spencer was home early and opened the door as quietly as she could as she wanted to surprise her husband. Jo could hear his lute although he was not playing his beloved Dowland but much earlier German pieces. At that moment it was a rather haunting piece which was typically short for a lute. This was followed with a lively dance rhythm and another piece that Jo loved because it reminded her of the Renaissance love of life even when they were so well acquainted with death 'or perhaps because of it,' her inner voice answered.

She almost skipped into the kitchen as Spencer then played another sprightly dance, and one she knew by name, 'Kalata ala spagnola'. He was obviously unwinding from a trying few days and Jo smiled to herself as she put the nut roast in the oven to bake and placed the prepared vegetables in the saucepans ready for cooking. Jo then made herself a cup of camomile tea before going to join her husband.

Spencer knew she was home but the music was flowing from his fingers and it was good to play again. It was such a restful experience and he treasured this instrument for its sensitive expressive nature. He looked up to smile at Jo who had come to sit opposite him and let the music speak volumes between them.

Jo thought how relaxed Spencer seemed this evening. He'd taken off the green and royal blue silk tie that she'd ordered on-line from the Tate Gallery in London. It was a modern design by some artist that her own tired mind couldn't remember at that precise moment although she knew Spencer would have no difficulty if she asked. Jo believed that she had definitely had some influence over his clothing since they had met and ties were something she had set her mind to improving. Jo also knew he kept a few treasured articles of clothing that had belonged to his father, the most precious being the purple silk scarf, but there were the old ties and even shirts in a suitcase back in Alexandria. He was wearing a charcoal shirt today with black chinos and a cashmere black V necked sweater. Jo wondered if he realised just how handsome he looked despite his excessive thinness and dark colours seemed to give him an extra air of mystery as well.

The smell of the cooking nut roast began to reach them and Spencer grinned and stopped tuning the strings before he began another piece.

"Smells nice," he said

"I'll have to start the veg soon. It's good that you got home early tonight," she replied.

"Yeah, Katie's back and I've been promised ordinary office hours for the rest of the week unless something serious crops up…It was a good day, I'm doing the Friday night News Review programme with Andrea," he stated with the brown eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Oh! I'll tell Dad, he'll enjoy seeing Andrea in action again…and we have Sunday lunch with your old boss to look forward to," she enthused.

"Yeah, it will be good to see Hotch again…although its only been a few days since he called in at College Park but with all that has been going on I feel a lot has happened. I'm looking forward to Sunday because Hotch was so eager to meet you and I find that quite a compliment from such a private couple. I'm sure that you'll like them, Hayley is a lovely person and little Jack…I've not seen him in over a year!" he confided.

Jo nodded and knew that Hotch's approval was very important to this man. Spencer always spoke with a special intensity and warmth when he talked about Aaron Hotchner. She sensed that it was a different sort of relationship to the one he had with Gideon and Jo was looking forward herself to witnessing the interaction between the two men. Suddenly Spencer was playing again, this time the 'Recercar ll' by Vincenzo Capirola, and he seemed totally absorbed with the instrument and music that was filling the room. She rose softly and went to the kitchen to continue with her tasks for the evening meal all the while serenaded by the intricate intimate music emanating from the front room.

Meanwhile on the West Coast, Derek Morgan was driving along the highway towards the city of Lompoc. He had remembered to pronounce the name 'Lompoke' and not 'Lompock' despite the way it was spelt. The flight had been quite full to Santa Barbara and the winter warmth had hit him as soon as he collected the hire car. There was a breeze but Virginia had been decidedly chilly compared to this and Morgan wished he'd dressed in lighter clothing. The agent had forgotten just how noisy commercial flights could be but he did manage to read through the file of the reports gathered together by Captain Luis although he had a passenger sitting beside him. This middle-aged man seemed to be content on reading his own work papers that involved real estate as far as Morgan's glance over that way could ascertain. At least neither of them showed any inclination to chat, which suited both the men just fine, and the flight attendant was content to leave them to their work once both had declined coffee or any kind of drink or food on offer.

It just felt good to be out of Quantico and the freedom was liberating as far as Morgan was concerned, he felt younger in himself and as if a great weight of boredom had been lifted off his back. He knew he liked to be doing things and sitting at a desk using his skills and answering request queries over the phone was not enough. Although Prentiss would say that it was still an intellectual challenge, Morgan knew that he had to physically see locations to get a real feel for a crime and this was the part he had loved with the team.

He turned the car into the main street. The hotel was straight ahead and, just like Barry had said, he could see the Police Headquarters almost right opposite. It all looked a neat place by night. There some young people hanging about in couples and groups like any town but he noted more Latino faces because of the state. Morgan turned into the hotel's parking area to check in.

Morgan had just unpacked when there was a knock on the door. He checked the spyhole and before him stood a neatly dressed athletic looking man, nearly 6 foot and in his late forties, whose neatly styled fair hair was just beginning to grey at the temples. The man's mid grey suit had the mid priced look of the sort a hard working detective would wear together with the pale blue shirt and conservatively blue and black striped tie to complete the outfit. However, Morgan put on the door chain before opening the door.

"Agent Morgan?" the man softly asked with a smile and held up his hand where nestled his ID.

"Captain Luis, please come in," Morgan hastily closed the door in order to unhook the chain and opened it wide again with a grin and a hand was thrust forward in greeting.

"Sorry about that but we're trained to be careful about our personal safety."

"Hey, Agent, no offence taken. Infact, I think all law enforcement officers do the same thing on or off duty, its ingrained in us I guess with the job," Luis replied warmly, "I'm not harassing you, Agent, to get working but I wondered if you'd like to come home with me for dinner. My Janet's a good cook and no gossip, and after your journey I thought it would be a nice way to unwind and get a feel for the place."

Derek Morgan was pleasantly surprised by the invitation and realised that Barry had meant his words about this man.

"That's an offer I find difficult to resist, Captain…and before I forget, I bring greeting from my superior…"

"Ah Barry, how is he? He sounded good on the phone when I spoke to him but I understand that there have been changes at Quantico recently..."

"Yeah…some really big changes with the financial cuts and the old team has been scattered to other places and the jet moth balled. I'm beginning to realise just how much a luxury that was…If we still had the jet I would have been here sooner as commercial flying has its drawbacks…"

"And while off duty…I'm Rod," he stated staring at Morgan squarely in the eyes.

"Derek," the other man said meeting the look steadily and both men smiled. Morgan felt that the evening and this assignment was getting better by the minute as far as he was concerned.

The evening was no disappointment and Morgan enjoyed the hospitality offered. Janet Luis was as warm and steady as her husband; it wasn't long before the agent was telling them about his fiancée back in Virginia, and the plans for their coming wedding, all over a delicious dinner of roast pork and succulent vegetables followed by home-made plum pie and cream. Derek Morgan knew that this was a kindness that the BAU rarely received and as an agent sent out alone in the field it was doubly appreciated. Rodney Luis had summed it up beautifully; it really was the best way to get an informal feel for the community that had requested his help.

Later, when Rod had dropped him back at the hotel, Derek rang Angela and told her about the lovely couple who had welcomed him to Lompoc with a homely dinner. Derek Morgan fell into a deep and refreshing sleep that night that left him very alert and ready to see the area and people for himself.

Spencer lay awake; Jo was sleeping snuggled up to him. He wanted to sleep but even sex with the woman he adored, which often led to a few sleepy hours, had not worked this time. It wasn't fair, he had done all the right things and come home at a reasonable hour. He had relaxed with music and conversation and a delicious meal but still sleep seemed far away with his overactive mind. Perhaps he and Jo ought to get in some country walks on Saturday or maybe he ought to go for a swim before coming home. Spencer knew that there was a nice indoor pool complex at College Park and that would tone all his body as well as tire him; he liked swimming as much as riding.

"Spencer?" a soft voice whispered and his body jumped with surprise.

"Yeah?"

" Sorry," she soothed for making him jump and her hand lightly rested on his thumping heart, " What's going on in your head now?" she asked with a hint of exasperation in the voice.

"Just can't get to sleep and I was thinking that perhaps I ought to go swimming before coming home when I finish early like today."

"Good idea, it's a lovely pool and this time of year there shouldn't be too many people around at 6:15," she replied but her hand began to explore his long slender torso.

He reached down and stopped her, "I thought you were fast asleep," he accused.

"I obviously sensed you were awake," she said with a voice that was softer and even richer in tone than before, "I'm slipping because I failed to exhaust you earlier…" the words seductively filled the darkness of the bedroom.

Spencer chuckled and reached for her warm and cuddly body.

"You're not a failure," he assured, "I've just got so much going on in my head that sometimes even your bewitching charms aren't enough to distract me," he deliberately paused and then brought his face close to hers and whispered in her ear, "the first time."

She giggled and in the darkness they found each other with no difficulty and the kiss deepened as their bodies demanded more but neither resisted the strong desire.

Thursday in the Lompoc Valley had passed very quickly for Derek Morgan. The Lompoc Police Department was friendly and helpful, even the civilian personnel, and he found himself riding with Ed Parfitt, a veteran of 15 years experience, who had joined the police following a stint in the army. He was a man who knew the area and the people well, which was why he had been assigned to drive Morgan to the relevant locations and to ease the introductions.

The respect for the FBI agent soared after he revealed that he'd worked as a cop himself and then discovering that Ed loved sport, and football in particular, all helped to forge an easy working relationship. By the end of the day he had covered many miles, visited many sites, talked to landowners and property owners and the Fire Brigade Chief about the recent burnt buildings and reviewed the physical evidence.

Morgan sat at the desk assigned to him alongside the other detectives, who were working more mundane cases of burglaries and the local gang rivalries at that particular time.

"Getting a feel for it?" Luis asked softly at his desk.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean about this…those early fires could be a practice but then there is the leap to buildings…"

"Mmm, I've been keeping my eyes open and ears to the ground with my contacts with those who work with the schools and the gangs…but this isn't gang related although it could be a troubled teenager or young man who we haven't noticed yet. Now that's what worries me…if he's escalating then what is he going to target next? So far no one has been harmed and only old property out of use has been destroyed…but what if…"

"Yeah, he turns his attention to something nearer to people and then someone could get hurt?" said Morgan quietly picking up the thread of thinking easily.

"Exactly, we don't have arsonists at work here usually," stated Captain Luis with concern.

"Yeah, Pierremont said when I spoke to him this afternoon and he stressed he'd been to college and got his qualifications for his work," replied Morgan remembering the man's pride and how he'd pointed to his diplomas on the office wall.

"Oh yes," replied Luis with a smile, " George isn't a country bumpkin. He's well respected in these parts and all his men are well trained. We can get very hot summers around here and any fire can easily be whipped up with the breezes we get off the Pacific."

"Don't get me wrong, I quickly realised that he knew what he had found but he also said that he rarely has found such devices out in the valley area. Pierremont said the last time they'd had a fire started with a suspect device was nearly four years ago and that was in the city and at a warehouse…."

"Yeah we quickly pinned that on the owner, he was hoping for the insurance money and thought that we were less likely to understand suspicious fires because we were not a big sophisticated city. Some people are totally condescending because we are a small city but we have very professional people in place here and what's more the different departments of the local government here talk to one another!"

"Yeah and that makes my job a lot easier…You'd not believe some of the tales I could tell you about small Town Councils who treat their individual departments like personal fiefdoms…And any talk usually was about securing their cut of the financial budget!"

Luis shook his head, "Oh I believe you! We have some of that too when the annual budget is on the table, but so far our Chief has managed to get what we need and the same goes for the Fire Department. However, it can get a bit heated if there is a suggestion of a big rise in the local taxes…"

"Hey…that's called being human! But it's nice to know that this place isn't paradise then!" Morgan chuckled.

"Any ideas so far?" Luis asked gently redirecting his thoughts back to the case.

Morgan gave him a searching look and a rueful smile, "I could reel out the usual arsonist profile but quite honestly even that crude timer was made of every day articles and the information is easily obtained out there on the net. It would all be so vague as to be worthless but I feel as uneasy about this as you...That sudden change to burning buildings…if it is the same unsub, then camp fires are just not satisfying him these days."

"You got any set time scale for being here?" the captain asked softly so as not to be overheard by his people.

"I wasn't given one by Barry, and with the cut backs we don't do many field trips these days, so I'm keeping my head down in the hope that they'll forget about me for a few days. Perhaps this guy…because it's usually a male thing…will get the urge to set another one while I'm here," replied Morgan who was genuinely intrigued by the events.

Luis nodded with understanding and felt happier that the agent was with the department at the moment.

Sunday came around very quickly for the Reids. Spencer had been busy while in the office for the rest of the week and the Friday night television appearance had gone surprisingly well, or at least his e mail messages were very complimentary. Katie had called him on his cell, while he was on the train home, and said that he had been a credit to the unit.

Saturday had been spent at Craig and Melinda's home but Margaret and Alan also dropped by in the afternoon. Alan was fulsome with his praise for how Spencer had handled himself and told them some stories about the younger Andrea to lighten the proceedings. It had been a relaxing and enjoyable day with the Petersen family and children but Spencer was looking forward to seeing the Hotchners.

The next morning, Jo had spent time fussing about what to wear for the lunch at the Hotchners and in the end decided upon an emerald green wool suit over a very pale blue crew necked cashmere sweater. Spencer was pleased that she was displaying the gold locket and it looked stunning against the plain and pale colour of the cashmere.

Spencer decided to wear a chestnut brown corduroy jacket with a pale green shirt, a bottle green silk tie with a tiny diamond design to the texture along with charcoal grey pants and black leather shoes. When Jo saw the ensemble she looked him up and down and said,

"Not the brown pants and brown shoes?" and raised an eyebrow as if to emphasise the question.

"No, these are more comfortable…and besides it's an informal invite and I've got to feel comfortable…."

"But you're wearing a tie…isn't that rather formal?" she asked and her black eyes flashed with momentary mischief.

"Not the way I wear them," he shot back and Jo smiled shaking her head…Spencer was right, there were times when he had the knot neatly done up and then there were others when the deliberate looseness of the knot could look sloppy. She decided not to press the issue; he had looked very smart for the press conferences in Hagerstown and for the television interview on Friday evening. Her father would probably like to grab him by the tie and tighten the knot for him today…but fortunately Dad was nowhere in sight to see the relaxed Spencer this morning. They set off in his Lexus and listened to a tape of Stephen Fry reading 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' and both the adults were content to be taken to a magical world.

It was a bright if crisply cold morning and the Beltway was relatively clear of traffic and they arrived at the Hotchners by 11:30.

"Hotch won't mind us being early," Spencer said confidently parking in their driveway.

Jo got out and then opened the nearest rear door to pick up the large mixed bouquet that had been laid across the back seat and the two small parcels, which she then handed over to Spencer.

"You're sure about this?" she asked her partner because it was something that she didn't normally bring on a home visit.

"Trust me!" he grinned at her and Jo thought how young he suddenly seemed again after all the recent turmoil with his work.

They turned to face the front door as they heard it open and a high pitched voice shouted,

"See…it was a new car!"

For Jo this small boy was an unexpected strawberry blond, but he had an unmistakable broadness to his shoulders already and a steady look that mirrored the man who stood grinning beside him.

"Hello Jack!" greeted the beaming Spencer and stepped forward, "I hear you have a train set?"

The child looked up and nodded, "It's big and got lots of trucks…Jack'll show you," he offered taking Spencer's empty hand.

"Good, I like trains and we have bought you some more track in this red parcel," Spencer said and the boy's eyes lit up and rested on the shiny red paper. Spencer carefully placed the red parcel into the eager hands.

"But first I've got to give Mommy this box wrapped in the green paper," the man added for the benefit of the boy's father and then remembered his greeting…

"Oh Hi Hotch, this is Jo…Jo this is the famous Aaron Hotchner …"

"Ah…now I have another name for you!" she quipped and Hotch was instantly bewitched by the black eyes. He didn't doubt she had another name for him but she was also emanating a warmth and humour that spoke volumes to this profiler. Gideon had said she was lovely and it was a 'love-match' and now Aaron Hotchner didn't doubt it. However, Hotch thought the wedding photograph just didn't do this woman justice. She wasn't conventionally beautiful but those eyes and that expressive face were memorable. There was also something about Jo Reid that came with a confidence of knowing that she had been a wanted and much loved child and this had flowered in to an adult warmth that Hotch had seen in well balanced individuals.

Aaron Hotchner also knew why she would have attracted the genius; she was everything Spencer thought a woman should be. Spencer Reid would have appreciated from the initial meeting her femininity, intellect, her warmth and Hotch sensed the emotional stability. Hotch didn't doubt her being totally trustworthy, not with the parents she had and then there was Jeff Bevan. Bevan had his own reputation to preserve and wouldn't risk his own business by employing someone who couldn't be trusted with the clients they handled around Washington. Shaking her hand he felt the firm confident grip and the black eyes looked steadily into his own.

Hotch smiled with all the friendly warmth he could muster because this was someone who wasn't afraid of his reputation and, after Spencer, she was use to the 'profiler' scrutiny he had just given her.

"It's my pleasure to finally meet you, I always envied Gideon's contact with you," admitted Hotch.

"Oh! Gideon really came to see Spencer and I usually just left them a decent meal to tuck into as I went off to choir practice. Then of course…things became very busy didn't they with his sudden departure and then the cuts brought other changes…"

"Yes, there seems to have been a lot of changes all very quickly, but I like to think of it as a learning time and useful for the new contacts you make and the skills you put to use in a different arena. But come on in and meet Hayley, she's been dying to meet you since the news of your existence seeped out!"

"Now, now, I suspect you profilers are all secretive about your personal lives!" she laughed and Hotch felt as if she was fitting into the agent's wife role as if she had been born to it.

Hayley was finishing a greeting with Spencer, who was being taken towards the den by Jack. Jo could now see where the boy got his hair colouring.

"It's lovely to finally meet you," Hayley smiled broadly, "Spencer said you had a clear run with very little traffic," she turned to look towards the den, "Spencer had better like trains!"

"Oh he does, his Mom wouldn't let him have one when he was small so he'll be happy to play on the floor with Jack's. But I see that Spencer did get the chance to give you the gift and I do hope that you have vases…Spencer and Lydia…that's our niece, chose these yesterday." The Hotchners' grinned and Hayley stepped forward feeling comfortable with this young woman. Hayley had an unnerving gift of intuitively knowing the people she could trust. The two women were bound by the strong, if invisible bond, of being the wives of agents and the two went off together toward the kitchen already chatting easily.

Aaron was struck by the words, he remembered the first time that he and Spencer had been partnered together too many years ago now. Reid had been on sick leave and had not been on the Boston case that killed the old team and led to Gideon's necessary leave of absence, as he had to come to terms with the old team's demise. By the time that Reid returned to the BAU there had been considerable changes. Hotch had been appointed from the Seattle office and Derek Morgan had arrived to take up his post along with a succession of new people, some of which didn't stay with the BAU or moved on after a year or so.

Hotch lingered, and let the women establish their own relationship, and leaned against the door way into the den to watch the two playing with the train. Spencer was adding the extra track and in the process making the layout more complicated. But Jack seemed happy to give him a running commentary about the blue engine's journey along the new layout.

"Here comes the engine…Over the bridge and there are the buses and here's the tunnel…It takes engine longer …he gets stuck in tunnel…Blue engine doesn't like the tunnel…There's the station…and more people to get on the train."

"The passengers are busy people," the man said helping the boy to put the Lego people into the carriages, "Where do you think they're going?"

"Shops and …the zoo. The engine likes going to the zoo 'cos he likes the lions!"

Hotch smiled and watched Spencer, the natural psychologist, just keying into the child's interest to expand his language and imagination.

Hotch's mind leapt back to the early days with Spencer. Spencer was relaxed with Barry but nervous with the new intake into the BAU, including himself. Barry had said to give it time because Spencer was close to Gideon and the old team and would be quietly mourning their loss.

Hotchner had not liked how the extrovert Morgan had pushed himself forward and the more he asserted his presence in the bullpen, the more this young genius seemed to retreat into himself. But when it came to the actual profiling work, Reid was extremely able and Hotch had gone to read a copy of his last thesis on criminal psychology that was available at Quantico. No one who had interviewed these criminally insane convicts could be naïve or that shy. To have gone into those high security special establishments you had to be very sure of your own core personality and be confident enough to know that these convicts would try to manipulate you. Spencer Reid looked so fragile and sensitive on the outside and the convicts he dealt with would probably have tried to scare him as well as boasting about their wicked accomplishments. But as he read, the Unit Chief could understand why Gideon had pressed and got the Bureau to bend the rules for this man. Gideon had said that Reid had the potential to be the finest profiler of his generation. Dr. Spencer Reid had insight that was way beyond his years and as Hotch watched him, during those early weeks, he let the young man take his own pace to re-adjust to the personnel changes and mourn the colleagues he had lost in his own quiet way.

Hotch quickly realised that the youngest agent was the most intelligent person he had personally ever met but he hid behind the gentle exterior and the projected innocence. Hotchner's own worldly experience knew it was an innocence that was too studied, as revealed by the way he blurted out a flood of facts and figures, especially if someone came too close emotionally or to help him keep a safe distance from a case. The more Reid used this tactic, the more Hotch had concluded it was definitely Reid's way of coping with the horrors of the job. However, it was also apparent that this young man was unafraid to turn and deal with the distressed loved one of a victim, or traumatised victim themselves, and offer words of comfort and wisdom and that all intrigued his Unit Chief. It was not something that he had learnt from Gideon because Gideon could be totally case focused and often was unnecessarily curt with those on the periphery of a case or those who were still distressed by knowing the victim.

Hotchner had read Reid's personal file many times and noted that he never spoke about his family or anything really personal. Hotch knew his father had left and died before they ever saw each other again and that his brilliant mother was in an expensive care institution because her schizophrenia was so bad that she could no longer live in the wider community. But most of all, what had really disturbed the new BAU Chief was the way the new Agent Morgan was the loud mouth, the womaniser and the bully; unfortunately Reid was often the target. Hotch had pulled him into his office on a number of occasions for his behaviour and reminded him that what may have been acceptable in the Police was not appropriate in his Unit. At first these had been verbal reminders but as certain behaviour persisted Aaron Hotchner had written comments in his 'review' reports, particularly when Morgan's behaviour leaned too far towards bullying. If Hotch ever witnessed Reid flinch from one of Morgan's thoughtless macho remarks then he mentally noted it and spoke to Morgan about it at the earliest opportunity…but it still continued when Morgan thought he was out of his boss's hearing and sight.

This behaviour revealed a lot more to Hotch about Derek Morgan and the personal weaknesses in his armour. Hotch suspected Morgan had experienced sexual abuse as a child because of his ultra macho image and the need to appear the 'action hero' of the team. He seemed to have an intense need to prove to himself that he was fearless, that he was unquestionably masculine and totally self-reliant. But Hotch also wondered who had betrayed his trust as a child, and he linked this to possible abuse, because Derek Morgan did not trust people. Agent Morgan had to feel in control of his immediate world, that way he felt he could tackle any situation. Morgan was undoubtedly a brave man but also a weak person psychologically because he was not truly a team member with his lingering 'trust' issues.

It was an interesting contrast, mused Hotch, as he watched the intense play on the floor. Morgan attracted a certain personality type because he did have that physically strong appearance and acted in a commanding manner, although sometimes he acted rashly and could be accused of putting others in difficult situations because he didn't act as a team member. However, Reid was popular because he was totally the opposite and seen as very sensitive and caring and ironically less dangerous because he didn't make fun of colleagues and seemed a harmless geek. These people were very wrong of course, Reid's strength was his apparent unthreatening appearance which made some women feel more comfortable with him, especially if they had themselves been bullied or faced physical violence from an overbearing man. But that apparent harmless geek had a razor sharp mind that had a deep psychological understanding of the flaws of human nature. However, he was also not the sort of person to use this knowledge in a destructive way. He had certainly used his talents for the good of the Bureau and his recent book was already talked about as the new standard text for anyone studying criminal psychology.

There was an undercurrent of cruelty with some of Morgan's behaviour, but it was the sort of thoughtlessness that was all too evident with too many brash sporty men. It was almost as if Morgan had hidden his sensitivity beneath layers of ' sports jock' crap to prevent anyone hurting him on an emotional level. This unfortunately led to the impression that he seemed 'superficial' in his relationships and especially with women. Morgan obviously liked to see himself as the big brother to Reid and perhaps thought the teasing, as Morgan called it, a form of 'toughening' for the sensitive genius. However, Reid being the only child was more than capable of taking on the world and had been coping with being 'different', and all that entailed, since he had mixed with his peers and then older students who inevitably saw him as a little annoying intellectual prick. Hotch believed that Morgan thought himself as some sort of mentor for the genius without realising that Reid was too polite to point out that he was very aware of the wider world in which he lived and certainly wasn't as naïve as Morgan thought. Or was it that Reid sensed Morgan needed, for his own ego, to feel that he could offer a service to the genius…be it as the worldly big brother role because that way working alongside such a talented individual, Morgan wasn't in Reid's shadow. 'Mmm,' thought Hotch, 'Morgan didn't like being in anyone's shadow, which was why he wasn't the best team player in a group with his tendency to try and take over situations. But Hotch had also noticed how Morgan's colleagues would just ignore him without comment if they thought he was just 'lording' it over them too much.

Hotch smiled as he watched the two play, a quarter of a century's difference in ages but here they were both utterly content to be pushing toy engines around the elaborate track on the den's floor. He sensed another figure beside him and knew it was Jo from the subtle hint of her jasmine perfume.

"The genius is in his element!" she whispered and Hotch turned to see her smiling black eyes that spoke volumes of the love between the young couple.

"I remember when Hayley first brought Jack to the Unit, he was only a few weeks old, and Spencer kept a discreet distance," he softly confided.

"Mmm then he met my brother and he already had Lydia and then by the time Ben was born Spencer was quite use to small humans…."

"He really looks quite at home," said Hayley coming to join them, "I think I've seen a totally new side to Spencer this morning and Jack has another big playmate."

"Yeah…its trains, my Dad can't wait for Ben to be old enough to have one," Jo said watching the scene, "But Spencer had such an odd childhood with his mother…I think I might have liked his father though. Spencer missed him terribly when he left but he still has a few treasured things that his Mom didn't destroy," said Jo quietly and then suddenly felt she had perhaps revealed a little too much about her husband and Hotch noticed a closed look flit across her broad face.

Hotch smiled hoping to express some understanding and re-assurance in that simple act but then also decided to add,

"Spencer is a very gentle and warm person so children naturally respond to him as an equal. No one would ever believe the life he had as a child."

"No," she agreed and Hotch thought that she seemed sad at the thoughts he had now caused to surface.

"Has Spencer ever told you about our first road trip together?" asked Hotch to lighten her mood.

She shook her head, "No."

"Let's go and sit over by the window…we'll still be able to watch the 'children at play' from there," he added and was pleased that she smiled as warmly then as when she had first arrived.

Hayley slipped out once more to the kitchen but Hotch and his guest sat beside the large picture window that looked out onto a lawn at the back.

"I'd been brought in as the Unit Chief while Spencer had been on sick leave and Gideon had needed a period of leave after a bombing incident that cost the lives of his original team. Spencer seemed very quiet at first and I thought he was just weighing up all the new people, me included, and also grieving in his own way for his old colleagues," he said evenly and watched how this woman had turned towards him to give him her complete attention.

"We had a case in Montana, it's a lovely state but not highly populated and rural Montana has communication problems. We were on our way to interview a witness, I knew the 'satnav' would be useless where we were going and so I had the best map I could get and was hoping that I didn't miss the turning off the Highway. We'd been driving for a couple of hours and not seen any other traffic. My passenger also didn't seem very talkative and was content to listen to a story tape…"

Jo nodded with understanding.

"We had 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' on the way here," she grinned, "Do you remember what he produced from his magical messenger bag for your journey?"

Hotch chuckled, this woman knew her Spencer.

"It was Le Carre's 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," and suddenly Hotch remembered his thoughts, as Spencer put the tape in the player, that if Morgan had been his companion it would have been a James Bond story or something more racy. But he also recalled how nervous the young agent had seemed at the thought of a trip alone with his new boss. Hotch hoped that just letting him listen to a story tape would help him to relax and adjust naturally to him.

"Suddenly Spencer said that there was a gas station ahead with a diner. I didn't need telling again because a top up of gas might be very useful on unknown roads and certainly in that sparsely populated state. We didn't want any food but Spencer never passes up on coffee so he went to get those while I got the gas. I went to join him at the counter in the empty diner and I don't know how he did it, but suddenly he knocked my coffee all down me…"said Hotch solemnly and Jo's eyes widened in horror at the thought of this very tidy man on duty. This man was even immaculate in his casual clothing today...but on duty as an agent!

"Spencer reached for the paper napkins to help mop up some of the mess and managed to knock over his own coffee my way too…" the voice continued and Jo's hand automatically reached up to cover her mouth in that attitude of acknowledging a disaster that couldn't be stopped.

She winced, "Poor Spencer! I bet he started stuttering and then babbling away in his embarrassment," the woman concluded.

"Yeah! So all my good intentions of trying to get to know the youngest agent on the team were well and truly shot! I had to change into my spare gear, which was fortunately in a bag in the SUV. However, I didn't feel very comfortable interviewing a retired judge in jeans and casual shirt but it was the only clothing I had in the over night bag, because the other suit was at the cleaners back in Butte after another mishap…not Spencer's fault that time," he hastily assured.

"So you totally failed to relax your agent and he was a nervous wreck for the rest of the road trip," Jo stated.

"Spot on!"

"So how did you get into a more relaxed way of working?" she probed.

"The very next case and a suspect panicked with their child when we went to interview him in New York. The man grabbed his 4 year old son and headed for the roof with us hot on his heels but there was no where for him to go except down. It was obviously a very distressed father on a tenement building's roof ledge and Spencer had got to the situation first. He seemed to be negotiating well and I trusted him to use his skills. Spencer persuaded the man first of all to let the little boy go and he ran to me so the child was safely out of danger. Then Spencer patiently got the man to trust him enough to get down from the ledge…Incidentally, this wasn't the unsub we wanted but he just fitted the description and needed to be eliminated from our enquiries…but we never know just what we're going into sometimes. Anyway, we did eventually have a successful outcome to the case. I went and talked to Spencer privately on the jet going home and just told him how impressed I was with the actions he'd taken up on the roof. Spencer just looked up with those big eyes of his and soaked up the compliments and I wondered just how much praise he'd received as a child?"

"Not much as a child," Jo answered and then explained a little further, " He was classed as a genius so expectations were high from the adults around him, especially from his Mom, who wasn't the most maternal woman, and she had her mood swings as well. His father was interested in him but praise wasn't automatically on his lips... They were living with a genius so they were use to their child being able to do things way ahead of his contemporaries. You see he didn't behave like the other boys in the street," explained Jo with her understanding of the situations that Spencer had talked over with her.

"Yes…I quickly concluded that it wasn't much... Spencer explained that he wasn't sure how to take praise because he'd not had much when younger but didn't go into specifics. However, I just felt that I'd broken the ice with Spencer for him to even refer to something of a personal nature because he didn't usually let the new team into his world. But from that moment, when we worked together, I felt that we had an unspoken understanding because I had respected his abilities and didn't interfere, as the senior agent, in the incident on the roof."

Jo nodded, "Mmm… a difficult decision but as the leader of the team you had to trust their abilities but I suppose you could have intervened if you felt it was going pear-shaped."

"True but that might have broken the concentration of the agent and the tension of the moment enough for the man to actually jump with the child…No, I just knew Spencer was building a trust with the man and I didn't want to jeopardise that fragile thread," he clarified.

Hotch's mind suddenly dwelt upon the aftermath of the incident again and how he felt that was the real starting point of the trust between them and one that was deeper than words could adequately explain. At one of his annual psych reviews, Hotch had been asked who of his team would he want with him in a volatile situation…he had immediately replied Reid. This reply had surprised the psych who had then responded with, "What, not Gideon…. Afterall he is your senior psych?"

It had been a moment to realise how much he found some of Gideon's behaviour a challenge in certain situations since the Boston incident. But Hotch then decided to close the door firmly on the memories and turn once more to this sensitive woman beside him.

"What was in that green parcel?" Hotch suddenly asked remembering that Hayley had thanked Spencer but he'd missed hearing about the contents.

Jo's face lit up with amusement, "A selection of teas from a British based company called Twinnings. They are the less exotic ones but that usually means they will actually get drunk."

Hotch smiled at her understanding of people and remembered his mother had once received a gift of ' Gunpowder Green Tea' that after one brew had remained firmly at the back of the cupboard.

"Tell me… have you been successful at breaking his caffeine addiction at home?"

"Well, I've had some success. We often drink tea at home and he has a liking for Earl Grey, but he also got into the routine of drinking peppermint and camomile at the Clinic and continued with that when he went home and I encouraged it too. He does have his morning coffee though…Spencer without his fix of breakfast caffeine is…well the world is just out of kilter until he has his coffee…"

Hotchner grinned and nodded, his eyes travelled back across the room to where the playmates were still caught up in their train world. Life felt good at that moment even if the worries about Louise were never far from the surface.

"Hayley re-appeared, and followed their gaze, "Now Aaron, you have to be the very brave FBI agent and tell your son and his friend that lunch is ready."

Hotch winced, "This isn't fair…Jack's not going to like this interruption and we may have to accept an engine on the table as the unexpected guest," he explained, "My negotiating skills may be needed to even get him to the table."

Jo was totally unfazed, "Oh just one engine! As a child I would take at least three bears with me and Lydia likes her companions too, while Ben is very fond of his zebra. So an engine or two, why it's just a talking point!" she assured and flashed a dazzling smile that her two hosts automatically responded to.

Hayley laughed and felt totally relaxed with this woman's unpretentious nature. The Hotchners glanced at each other and Hayley saw the look of her happy husband and knew that he felt the same way about the new Mrs. Reid.

Lunch went very smoothly as Jack and Spencer agreed that both the red and the blue engines needed an excursion to the dining room and Jo skilfully got Jack talking about his engines while the other adults quietly talked around them.

"Jo's very good with children," Hayley softly said to Spencer and he immediately understood the subtext of the remark.

"Yes, she's very maternal and a doting auntie. I don't think she would have married me without the thought of eventually having a family," he replied truthfully and Hayley's face softened and nodded.

"My youngest sister, Louise, is acting as a surrogate for us and we are expecting a daughter in the summer. We're very excited about it as we never wanted Jack to be an only child but, as I told Jo earlier, I'd not expected the problems I experienced when we wanted children. We still look upon Jack as something of a miracle after all the miscarriages I had," she explained softly.

Spencer nodded; he had heard all the talk surrounding Jack's birth. Hotch had not mentioned the pregnancy until the sixth month because he thought that it was going to end like all the others. Jack's birth was quite a celebration at the BAU and everyone had welcomed Hayley and the new baby when they had visited the unit later. It was a rare glimpse of the off duty Hotch and it was obvious to all of the personnel that this was a precious child.

Spencer smiled, "That is wonderful news and how generous of your sister to help," he replied but as he said the words he sensed an unease in Hotch even if his wife radiated happiness at the thought of the new child. Spencer hoped that he had not betrayed his alert nature to this glowing woman opposite him. She may not have been physically pregnant herself but the prospect of this baby's arrival was obviously eagerly awaited.

"Have you told Jack or do you think him too young to know yet?" Spencer asked and hoped that Jo would key into the conversation and help him out. He was aware of his inadequacies, this was more a 'woman' thing and he might not quite get the tone right and he didn't want to upset Hayley in anyway.

"Well, I did take him with me when I went with Louise for her sonogram last Thursday…that's when we found out it's a girl…So I did say that Auntie Louise was having Mommy's baby for her because Mommy wasn't able to. The doctor has been very understanding and she pointed out the head and little fingers to Jack, then Jack saw his sister wriggle and he was transfixed to the screen. Jack insisted on showing the blue engine to his sister, he held it up at the screen, and said that when she was grown up like him she could play with his train. But as soon as we left the room he wasn't interested anymore and just wanted to go back to the car. He did tell Aaron that he'd shown baby his blue engine that evening but then he just wanted to play with the train as usual." Hayley happily explained.

"Well that's good, although he is very young, but what a lovely incident to remember…and no doubt embarrass him with at some time when he's an adult…But he was showing a very sharing nature," Spencer replied and hoped that Jo would help him out of this conversation. Jo glanced his way and smoothly read the situation.

"I think you're very fortunate to have such a giving sister to put her own career on hold for you as a family…It's wonderful really. I've never met a surrogate but I'm not sure I could have personally played that role for my sister in law, no matter how much I love my brother and his wife. I think I would be afraid of being too attached to the baby and not able to hand it over after the birth. Oh …I'm sure that Louise will in your case," Jo hastily said and thought that she'd not handled that very well, but it was the truth, although Hayley didn't seem upset and just smiled confidently and said,

"Louise is career orientated and not at all maternal so it was a bit of a surprise. But she and Ethan have never wanted children because they are happy to have their sporty leisure activities and comfortable life style that they couldn't enjoy with a child. Louise is quite detached really and doesn't consider the baby as hers…she's just being an incubator for us. But she's going to join Ethan in Hong Kong after the birth so she won't have anything to do with the baby anyway. But I agree with you Jo, I don't think I could do what she's doing for us…like you I'd be far too attached to the little being growing inside me," replied Hayley. Jo noted how enthusiastically Hayley talked about this coming event and part of her wondered why she sensed the unease in the men at the table.

Spencer couldn't help but notice Hotch as Hayley spoke. Both men were trying to keep happy countenances but both of these males also shared a strong sensitive bond of non-verbal understanding that had grown over the years of working together in the BAU. It was an understanding built on unquestioning trust…each of them would totally trust the other to watch his back…and they had been in several dangerous situations when that unbreakable bond between them had saved the day…and lives. Spencer still remembered the hug he had needed and freely received from his Unit Chief and friend when they had rescued him from his Hankel nightmare. At this moment Spencer wanted to speak to Hotch alone to find out what was troubling him over this surrogacy while Hayley seemed to see no problems at all.

"Ice cream Mommy, pleeze," a child's voice suddenly broke into the adults' individual thoughts and three of those adults were grateful for his interruption.

"Wow…Jack's a good boy for eating all his lunch today," Hayley answered giving her son her complete attention and suddenly the conversation turned to desserts and the type of ice cream that Jack and Blue engine would prefer that day.

The original plan had been for a walk with the Hotchners in the afternoon but when sleet began to fall during lunch, and then continued as heavy rain, the adults decided that the afternoon would be better spent indoors. Jack announced that he and the engines would like a little rest and wanted to watch "Winnie the Pooh" and within minutes he was asleep on the couch as Tigger bounced across the television screen.

Hayley and Jo were deep into a conversation on the latest décor designs and the men grinned at one another, Hotch's eyes meaningfully flicked towards his study and Spencer nodded. The two men slipped away leaving the ladies to keep an eye on the sleeping Jack and his engines.

Both men still had coffee in their mugs and this room was a sanctuary away from feminine concerns. They sank into the comfortable high backed leather chairs opposite each other and Hotch placed his mug on the black glass topped elliptical coffee table between them.

"So," said Hotch, "How did you really catch Sandra Brown and her mother?" and Spencer smiled knowing that Hotch was as intrigued as a lot of other people about the catalogue of kidnappings and illegal adoptions that Spencer had stumbled upon. However, while Spencer was content to tell Hotch the finer details of the case, he also wanted to know what was eating away at Hotch and it certainly had to do with Louise being the surrogate mother.

They spent a good hour talking about Spencer's recent exploits with the baby kidnapping case and Hotch also turned his legal mind to the minefield now occupying the courts. The DNA tests were confirming the biological parentage of the illegal adoptions and, as Spencer said, he was glad that his part was in effect over. However, he admitted that the consequences of the case, as it unravelled, had upset him more than he had initially thought it would. But then cases involving children always were the most difficult and he did find the work at the CACU far more draining than the cases they covered at the BAU.

"So you'd go back to BAU work?" Hotch asked strangely needing at that moment the young man's reassurance.

"Yeah…I mean they are a nice group of people that Katie Cole has gathered around her but it's the work…I find I can do it but I can't switch off in the same way I could when at Quantico. Jo's great…you know very supportive but the problem is me. I think its because I didn't have a normal childhood myself and I guess I want things to be better for the children I come into contact with."

"And some of the ones you meet at the CACU are already so badly damaged that you know that they are going to find it difficult to have normal relationships in the future…" Hotch stated with understanding.

"Exactly…The Eliza Corey case was a new born baby so the damage for her was minimal but for her parents and the other parents I met later with the illegal adoptions, and those children…many now adults. Most of them had experienced very loving adoptive homes but suddenly their worlds were turned upside down by what the investigations uncovered. But it was a pleasure to work with a very good LEO and he knew the original case that Sandra Brown was involved in …but her mother's history was unexpected. However, it all tied up some old cases but the damage those women wreaked on other innocent people's lives just for money…and the idea that taking a twin was OK because the mother still had one baby to care for…It's twisting logic to justify your actions. I was initially quite prepared to discover that Sandra Brown was acting as a surrogate but wanted to keep her actions quiet to avoid the disapproval of unsympathetic people."

Hotch nodded and thought how brilliant Spencer had been to gently steer the subject round to surrogacy after the conversation over lunch.

Spencer watched Hotch carefully, he seemed to have retreated into his own thoughts and he knew that he had touched a raw nerve by raising the surrogacy thread. However, he felt that Hotch needed someone to talk with at that moment and took a decisive breath and plunged into the deep emotional seas that Aaron Hotchner usually kept carefully hidden by steering his boat so skilfully across the surface of life.

"Hotch…" he said softly and waited for the man to look up and into his eyes. It was then that Spencer saw the look of a trapped animal and wondered what had really happened. Reid instantly dismissed the idea of Hotch having an affair with his sister in law…Hotch was devoted to Hayley and he'd not jeopardise the family life he had. However, he sensed that Hotch was deeply unhappy at that moment…

"Hotch…I know this is none of my business but …is every thing all right with you and Hayley over this baby?" Spencer asked and was amazed at how daring his question was and how steady his voice.

Hotch swallowed as if trying to get rid of the pain and anguish that was growing in his heart over the events that he had so little control over.

"You're as perceptive as ever, Spencer," Hotch replied and felt the hidden burden of his true feelings swell up inside him making him feel physically weak, as the emotions tried to burst forth from the depths where he had tried to hide them for weeks.

"Hayley's been besotted about having another child for nearly two years and she has experienced several miscarriages again. Her doctors were getting quite worried about her obsession for another child and what it was doing to her both physically and psychologically," the older man began and felt the pain stab at his heart as he tried to explain the situation.

"You know, before we had Jack, we had discussed adoption. I really didn't mind; you get to the point where you just want your wife to be happy and giving an unwanted baby a loving home was fine with me. But it was Hayley; she never wanted to adopt because she always wanted to feel the process of pregnancy. Pretty ironic when you consider the numerous miscarriages she endured but it still didn't alter her opinion…she wanted her own child…her flesh and blood.

Anyway, I come home one evening, soon after I'd been appointed to the Washington Field Office, to find Louise here…I knew something had happened, I could tell as soon as I walked in, there was that undercurrent of things said and agreed behind closed doors. Well to cut the story short, Louise has always been the manipulative younger sister who was the favourite of her parents. She was given a lot more freedom than were her two older sisters when they were growing up and usually what Louise wants in this world, Louise gets quite easily.

Louise has a very sporty partner called Ethan who's teaching in Hong Kong at the moment and Louise was planning to join him because he's enjoying the life out there. She had a one night stand with a deputy principal but what matters is that this Jonathan's 'happily' married with three sons…and she never expected to get pregnant. Louise couldn't bring herself to have an abortion once she had finally accepted the fact that she was pregnant and the father doesn't want to know because he doesn't want to jeopardise his marriage. I suspect that Louise was feeling lonely because Ethan had been out of the country for a couple of months and this guy was available.

Well…I get home to find that Louise had deliberately come over knowing that I wasn't here, and told Hayley her sob story how she'd been silly but daren't tell Ethan the truth because he'd dump her. Neither of them ever wanted children, as they are quite happy with their active life style as a couple. But I don't doubt that Ethan has been faithful to Louise but like I said, Louise is manipulative and she knew that Hayley had been having miscarriages again…

So everything had been more or less decided by the time I got home. The two sisters did a united front; Hayley said that Louise wanted to have this baby for us so Jack could have a baby brother or sister and it was the perfect solution for everyone. She then further added that because it was her sister's child it shared part of the same gene pool and that was better than adopting a stranger's baby.

Hayley of course, in her emotionally fragile state, was sold on the idea before I got home and she was full of how wonderful it was and we would be helping Louise and Ethan stay together as well. They felt he would accept Louise playing the part of a surrogate for us and she could leave to be with him after the birth.

It was all agreed, Spencer, how could I start raising any objections when Hayley looked so happy, the happiest she has been all year! You know she's been having counselling over her desire for another child and the effects of the miscarriages on the marriage and for Jack…I felt that she was getting so wrapped up in the desire for another child that she was ignoring Jack…." Hotch rambled on as he couldn't stop the feelings as they bubbled to the surface. Spencer sat and listened keeping up with this rare glimpse of the emotional man opposite him as he told his story with all its asides and the leaps back and forth over the incidents.

"I had to think quickly to get some reality attached to all of this and got Louise on her own and said that if she really wanted to do this for us then we would put it all in writing. I know a lawyer who is experienced with surrogacy and adoption issues and I rang her that evening while Louise was still with us and made the appointment for us all to sit down in Farah Jeavons's office to get everything on a legal footing. I don't want Hayley devastated because Louise changes her mind at the last minute. You know pregnancy can play havoc with a woman's emotional balance…

I also made Hayley and Louise tell their older sister, Caroline, that Louise was playing the surrogate for us. That way it has trapped her into that story line now with family and friends and I gather everyone thinks she's such a wonderful sister for what she's doing…Even Ethan thinks she is being very kind and generous towards us!

But I also know how manipulative Louise has been in the past with her family and I wanted her to know that she was not going to start messing me around when it came to my Hayley. So it was agreed and put in a legal document that Hayley would attend every antenatal appointment, we would pay the medical fees, and the doctor was to be told of 'the surrogacy' right from the start. It is also agreed that Hayley will be there at the birth and will be given the baby immediately after the birth, not Louise, and the doctors have agreed to this. You see Louise has had to keep up with the initial lie and the further the pregnancy continues, the more complicated her lie has become!" explained Hotch but Spencer could also see why his friend was worried.

"Jeez Hotch…I understand what you have done and I'm sure I would have gone down the same route as you in this situation…but if Louise changes her mind during this pregnancy. Then there's the problem even with the early adoption after the birth, there is still that period of grace where the biological mother can reclaim the child before the adoption is seen as binding. Isn't that something like 10 days here in Virginia?"

"Exactly! Despite all the assurances that Farah has tried to bind her to, the courts recognise that the emotions of the biological mother are paramount for a few days after the adoption. Louise has said that she will leave the country to join Ethan as soon as the doctors say that she can travel but there is the adoption procedure to go through first. It's three days before the baby can be put up for adoption in this state. I really don't mind being the adopter of this child…Hayley is just a different person since this all happened but what if Louise doesn't keep her word?"

"You'll not be sure until Louise actually gets on that plane to join her partner," said Spencer and Hotch nodded but it felt good to just unburden himself to another man who might understand the complexity of the emotional situation.

"So the rest of the family don't know the truth and believe that the baby is biologically yours and Hayley's?"

"Yeah, I think that is the assumption…you see Hayley has never had any problem at getting pregnant it was carrying a baby to term that was the hurdle."

Spencer thought about the situation before adding, "I think Louise's self image would suffer too much if she decides to renege on all of this. There would be condemnation from the family and her friends. But above all, she would have to explain things to her partner who's not the paternal sort. You implied that he had been faithful to her so he'd be resentful of a child who wasn't his and the strain that would put on the relationship…it wouldn't last, as he would probably never trust her again. But then there is the child's biological father who doesn't want to know; if the gossip reached his ears then that's another family affected. No Hotch, Louise has too much to lose and I think she'll go through with this and lap up the emotional praise she's getting for doing such a charitable act for her sister…"

"God, I hope so, Spencer."

Spencer thought that Hotch had aged a good twenty years as he spoke about this emotional tangle but a part of him also had to know one more piece of this jigsaw.

"Does the lawyer know the truth of this matter?" he asked quietly and Hotch looked up sharply and then smiled at the question the genius had asked.

"Oh yes, when we all went to see her, I told Farah the truth and Louise squirmed a little but Farah then knew what she was really dealing with. You see if Louise reneges I will challenge for custody and so her behaviour would come out in court and I'm really hoping that this threat of publicity will keep her to the agreement. I made this all clear to Louise in front of Hayley and Farah. Hayley just smiled confidently and said that she trusted Louise to keep her word but I wonder what Farah really thinks of her sister. She had already drawn up an agreement and she put in these extra caveats that we would challenge her in court if she reneged. Louise signed it and so far has behaved correctly, but both sisters seem to have a pact about this convenient lie," explained Hotch in a cold detached manner that Spencer knew from previous observations of his former boss; Hotch could be very dangerous when someone crossed him.

"Very wise," Spencer softly said and hoped that the sister would be wise enough not to take on Hotch.

Aaron Hotchner knew that this conversation would never be repeated, not even to Spencer's beloved Jo.

On the West Coast, Derek Morgan had just finished eating dinner, at a pleasant local restaurant near to the hotel, when his cell sounded.

"Morgan," he said all alert noting that it was Captain Luis's number.

"Derek we've got our next fire…."

Morgan felt his heart kick in his chest and the adrenaline raced through his body; this was just what they needed.

End of Chapter 16.


	17. Chapter 17

**The Interregnum: Chapter 17**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1 **

"Derek we've got our next fire…"

Morgan felt his heart kick in his chest and the adrenaline raced through his body; this was just what they needed.

"Where?" he asked rising from the small dining table where he had been sitting and signalled for the waitress.

"Burdock Street, its on the edge of town…Where are you? I'll arrange to pick you up with the camcorders," Captain Luis enquired.

"Pedro's on Main Street," he replied and then whispered to the waitress, "Sorry, work calls…Can I have the bill please?"

The attractive Latino woman flashed her pearly white smile and did his bidding.

"No problem, I'll be with you in 5 minutes at the most," Luis sounded from the small handset.

Rodney Luis was true to his word and swept smoothly to the place where Morgan was waiting on the sidewalk. He filled him in with the known details as the agent buckled himself into his seat.

"Fire Brigade got the call at 21.02, they then informed us two minutes later. The fire was called in by a man called Javier Brito who was walking his dog. It's on a new estate, the building has come to a halt and the few homes that had been sold have been emptied due to fore closure…"

Morgan sighed, "A sign of the times," he muttered and Luis grunted his agreement.

"The builder has removed all his site equipment and materials from the estate so there are just a few empty houses and then some partial shells. During the daytime some of the local youths hang around there but they're not vandalising anything as far as the unit patrols can tell. You know its just kids meeting up with their mates…Brito said one of the finished houses was on fire. I've got the camcorders on the back seat so we can film the audience."

"Good," answered Morgan who was all alert and ready to get stuck into some real work out in the field. He watched the traffic pull over to give them clear passage on their blue lights and siren.

The scene was typical for a fire; police were already in attendance to keep back the growing crowd and out of the way of the fire tenders and their important work. But fire always held a fascination for people. It is such a destructive force and yet it can also be tamed and be welcomed as a source of warmth and a means to cook food, while the gentle light of a flickering candle can be spell binding even in this modern world of quick fixes. There was something so mysterious about candlelight and the way the world appeared to slow to an older pace…a pace that humans over the centuries had also experienced.

But as Morgan looked at this example of fire it held none of that gentle charisma of candlelight. Before him were raging flames reaching high into the dark sky, angrily burning red, gold and orange with points of bright blue and sparks shooting off at irregular intervals as if punctuating the angry discourse this element was having with the men trying to control it from spreading.

The audience were all gazing skywards in awe, bewitched by the spectacle that fortunately did not ordinarily touch there lives in this threatening manner. Luis and Morgan set about the task they had assigned themselves to record the audience as conspicuously as possible. But the darkness helped them in this matter and Morgan hoped, that with the new enhancement procedures that were now available to them, that these images were going to identify possible suspects.

The air was full of the acrid smell of burning and the crackling angry sounds of the flames but there was also another smell that Morgan sensed although perhaps his mind was deceiving him. However, he thought there was a slight smell of gasoline but as the fire fighters all seemed very busy at that moment it was not the time to start questioning them about their observations. He filed the thought away for the relevant time in the future concentrating on the task in hand and kept his profiler wits on alert to see if there was anyone who was looking suspicious. They would be back in the daylight and record the onlookers for the clear up procedure too.

Arsonists liked to watch fires, especially ones they had set and often enjoyed returning to the site when the fire was out to assess the destruction for themselves. Fire was such a violent and devastating force but Morgan was more fascinated by those people who were not content to watch the harmless beguiling effects of a candle burning. These individuals were excited by the wilful energy of fire, to the extent that near some sites of fires, semen covered tissues would be found as evidence of the power that fire held over some men. As he watched this crowd he hoped that the morning light would give them useful clues.

Far away in Maryland, Jo Reid lay awake. It was unusual for her to be the one wanting to sleep but not achieving that relaxing state. However, it was good that Spencer seemed to be content tonight and he had obviously enjoyed their visit to the Hotchners. Jo smiled in the darkness; she had enjoyed the day too and found Hayley a warm and interesting woman. Hayley Hotchner, just like Shelley Kramer, had found her own ways of keeping herself occupied while her husband's work demanded such unpredictable hours. These two women were both fortunate to have children to make the hours on their own pass more quickly, although Jo knew that it must be hard at times to cope with a very small baby on your own. She had seen Melinda cope, with help from the family, and she herself was an active auntie but Craig and Melinda had deliberately moved back to Virginia so that the grandparents could help. Shelley had her parents near by and Hayley had family that was not too far away. Her thoughts travelled back to the conversations she had with Hayley about her many miscarriages and how they had eventually had Jack. Jo thought Hayley incredibly brave to keep trying for a baby and wasn't sure that she would have been able emotionally to endure such disappointment over and over again. But Jo also wasn't sure that she could take the route the Hotchners had now embarked upon. She really couldn't be a surrogate mother for anyone, it must have sounded very selfish at lunchtime to admit that but it was the truth. Jo wondered what she and Spencer would do if they found for any reason that they could not naturally have their own child. She hoped that they would be in agreement about adopting…but she sighed, deep down she wanted Spencer's child one day…not yet, but one day.

Jo turned over towards her sleeping partner and snuggled up close to his very bony form. She loved Spencer beyond reason and tried to accept that his work was part of him.

In a happy home in Virginia a worried man lay awake, desperate not to disturb his slumbering wife. The man's thoughts wove in and out of various memories, some more recent than others…

Hotch had been pleased to see Spencer again and admitted to himself that he missed the quiet man. The young genius was a gentle friend who was prepared to raise the difficult questions when he felt that they had to be asked and Hotch respected that quality in the man. Aaron Hotchner was grateful for the listening ear Spencer had provided for his own misgivings that afternoon and part of him felt some of the crushing emotional burden had been lifted. It really did help in this case to share his problem with Reid and the younger man's reaction had been honest and direct. Hotch smiled into the darkness, in many ways Max was right about Spencer Reid; he was an excellent psychologist and one who would fit well into the army of psychs ready to work with the agents in the Bureau. Perhaps that was where the genius would eventually end up because he didn't really see Reid as heading a unit like the BAU or the CACU. It wasn't that he was incapable of the demands of the managerial side expected of him, but it was rather that Reid had never really wanted to lead a unit in the same way that other agents strove for such a promotion. Hotch knew that Adam Priest would be very happy for Reid to stay at College Park, and Kramer had been prepared to train him up with his special unit, but Spencer was the sort of man who wouldn't necessarily follow the straight forward career path. But then Hotch reminded himself that neither had he but he had experienced an interesting life so far. Hotch's thoughts began to dwell upon Reid and his present situation.

Aaron Hotchner was very aware from his present position that other senior agents recognised that Reid was coping with the deputy's work very easily and, in a few years time, heading a unit would be the natural step. However, something in Hotch's mind was persistent in thinking that Reid would not take the path others might expect for him in the Bureau structure. Hotch thought he might even leave if he felt he was getting stale in the work because he was a man with a very restless mind that liked new challenges. However, the older man also realised that into this complex mix, that was the genius, there was now his relationship with his new wife.

Hotch liked Jo, and he was pleased with how well she and Hayley just slipped into an easy friendship. After they had left, Hayley remarked that Jo had accepted a future invitation to meet up and discuss plans for re-decorating the guestroom and the nursery. It was interesting that her damaged left hand had not been mentioned, not even by Jack who had seemed quite happy to let her play with him and his train world on the floor while Hotch and Spencer were still talking in the study. Hayley had later confirmed that Jack had not mentioned Jo's hand in her hearing and Hayley herself hadn't really noticed it. Hotch had told his wife sometime ago about the incident that had affected the musical side of Jo Petersen's life, but the woman had also shown a determination to find another way to express this side of her nature. Hotch thought it was the large dark, expressive and bewitching eyes that dominated his memory of Jo Reid.

Aaron Hotchner, the profiler, recognised that this woman had survived being a victim and had passed beyond that now to lead as normal a life as possible. Unfortunately, some victims never seemed to overcome the trauma and regain the trust needed in others to go out once more and pick up their lives. He suspected that Jo still had the odd flashback, or nightmare, but to the present world she put on a positive exterior and her relationship with Spencer had obviously been beneficial to them both.

Although Hotchner had never thought Spencer Reid was innocent about women, as the rest of the team might like to believe, Reid still had his own trust issues concerning people but that was normal for anyone who had experienced bullying as a child. However, added into these experiences were also those of having a mentally unstable mother and that would not have been easily understood by a lot of women he might date and hope for a more lasting relationship. People generally found mental illness unsettling because of the very nature of its manifestation making a person very different to those around them. Society functions on accepted rules of behaviour, both formal and informal, and sharing a common acceptance of these predictable rules make things run smoothly. However, if these rules are not understood, or adhered to, then other members of that society can be offended or even frightened. It is often because so called 'normal' people cannot predict the behaviour of those with mental illness that they are frightened and find it far easier to shun the sufferer and their families.

Hotch knew that Reid had been worried about developing schizophrenia himself when he had first joined the Bureau because as the new BAU Chief he had read Reid's psychological reports. However, these reports revealed that Reid was actually considered more stable than some of the other older recruits for the FBI. There was no evidence of recurring schizophrenia on either side of his parentage and it was concluded, by the panel of psychs who had reviewed his application, that his mother's illness was probably her own doing. Enquiries had discovered that Diana Reid had dabbled in a cocktail of drug taking on the Berkeley campus, and this probably had done the real harm to her brilliant academic mind. However, it had been agreed to keep a close eye on Spencer Reid's behaviour because the incidence of schizophrenia was more likely to manifest itself earlier in men than in women. But Dr. Spencer Reid was now 28 years old and more confident than ever with a stable relationship and coping with a demanding position. Max and his team had confidently reported last year that they thought that it was very unlikely that Reid would develop schizophrenia. Also the agent was very concerned about the effects of drugs, and alcohol, on his brain and they felt he would not go down either of these paths of self- destruction. Hotch remembered Max firmly telling him, while Reid was still on sick leave, that he wanted to train the genius up to use his psychological talents and experience to help his fellow agents rather than just using his abilities in the criminal field in which he worked.

Max had turned very quietly and said, "I wouldn't be taking such a step if I thought the man was mentally unstable or liable to develop schizophrenia," and Hotch felt the full power of this man's convictions as he spoke. Hotch's memories now flitted to consider Max in more detail.

Aaron Hotchner was very aware of the powerful personality behind Max Pentall. There were so many rumours about this man's background but he had been very sympathetic and practical in his help with Hayley and her need for counselling. Hotch was very grateful for that help but he also knew that Pentall was probably the most powerful man in the whole organisation with the secrets he kept to himself. However, Hotch also felt that this enigmatic man did genuinely care about people who needed help from his department.

The experienced profiler suspected that Max Pentall was highly intelligent and a superb psychologist but unfortunately he had clashed with Gideon. It was only after Hotch was brought back to Quantico, and Gideon had returned to the BAU, that Hotch realised that this was the case. The new Unit Chief often had to listen to Gideon's assessment of the Head of the Mental Health Services for the Bureau. According to Gideon, Pentall had taken his first couple of years getting rid of rivals but Hotch had also heard the other viewpoints. Other people on the senior management level felt that Max had finally got rid of the deadwood that his predecessor had collected around him. It was generally agreed amongst these managers that the former Head didn't like his opinions challenged so he had surrounded himself with 'yes' people. The consequence was that Pentall had to get rid of them when he was appointed to his position and the changes that Max had brought about did have merit.

Hotchner couldn't fault Pentall's actions forcing through changes in the advanced training of agents once they had specialised. Gideon felt that these changes were unnecessarily too formalised for the actual work in the field. However, Hotch felt that Max had not been criticising the need for field experience but rather stressed the importance of a more systematic approach and regular assessment, by other senior personnel as well as by the unit in which they were assigned. This kept a closer eye on the career development of agents and these assessments were a time to direct agents in areas of weakness or to arrange for them to experience another area connected with their work. It did mean more individual agent interviews but, in the relatively short time it had been running, there was positive feedback about the changes from the various specialised units and the agents themselves.

On reflection, Hotch felt that his initial thoughts were confirmed; Gideon had been negative because he felt his teaching style was being criticised. Gideon certainly felt less secure after he had returned to the BAU and perhaps the Bureau had been wrong to offer him a position back on the team that he had once led. Hotch had himself been placed in a difficult situation when he had been asked to assess Gideon's effectiveness out in the field at that time. The Bureau didn't want to lose a criminal psychologist and superb profiler if he could still function out in the field rather than just teaching back at Quantico. Indeed, all along the Bureau had treated Gideon very well, even when he failed to support his protégé correctly when Reid returned to the BAU following the Hankel case. Max Pentall had treated Gideon fairly and had stepped in to try and help Gideon to retirement. Hotch sighed, Gideon had been shown considerable compassion, especially by Reid despite the lack of support the older agent should had given him. Even right at the end when Gideon had really dropped them all into stormy seas after his sudden disappearance… again it was his protégé who picked up the pieces and was prepared to show him compassion.

Hotchner's mind roamed down other pathways of thoughts and buried memories. Compassion was something that he had learnt when young, like Spencer Reid. Aaron Hotchner's mother had not been mentally ill but she had certainly made life very difficult for her eldest child. Suddenly Hotch's mind began to review his family background with a certain detachment, as if assessing profiles of victims and unsubs.

Mary Elizabeth MacBeth was the daughter of an old, and once quite comfortably wealthy, southern family. The family wealth had long seeped away over the years but they were steeped in the Virginian Old World values of the genteel ways of the south. Her private education and old-fashioned manners set her apart from the brash upstarts of New York City or the gaudiness of Los Angeles. Mary had a serene beauty that attracted longing looks but she had not quite enough money to live the life that she believed was befitting her background. Her family had lost money on the stock market and never quite regained their former financial glory, but it was paramount for the family image that outsiders would never know just how much the family coffers had been depleted over the years. Consequently, Mary's own mother had discreetly sold, in New York, family jewellery that had been passed down through the generations in order to pay for Mary's exclusive education and to keep up the family home as long as possible. Keeping up appearances was essential and ingrained into the family's way of life.

Mary had married Robert Finlay an only child, like herself, of an old Virginian family who ironically had also lived the lie of keeping up appearances. It was not that the Finlay family was poor, it was just that Mary, and her parents, thought she was marrying into a family with more money. The reality was not clear until after the wedding, by which time it was apparent that Robert's family, who had encouraged the match, thought that their son was marrying into money too. The young couple believed themselves to be in love and all would be fine and they would continue as they had always done to the outside world and pretend that they had more than was real. A mixture of quaint manners, old Southern charm and a good education all helped to fool the outside world. However, over the years, Mary's mother had sold more of her jewellery, and the occasional antiques, to meet unexpected bills for the large house, the medical expenses incurred with major illness and her husband's final nursing home. The MacBeth family did what was necessary to keep up appearances….

By the time that Aaron was three, his grandfather was already in a comfortable nursing home following a severe stroke, and survived another four years because of the excellent care he received. But the young child was not aware of the problems that were mounting in his home.

Robert Finlay was quite successful helping his own father run the family business of a small company of domestic and commercial realtors. However, some bad investments and ambitious plans, over-reaching themselves trying to build houses to sell on land they had purchased, all back-fired. Consequently, the Finlay family also spent time to build a smokescreen in order to keep up appearances. Father and son shared the same vices: a liking for too much liquor and when drunk, taking out their worries on their spouses. Mary was a battered wife but she would never admit this to the outside world and for several years she never even confided in her own mother.

Years of keeping up appearances were second nature to Mary and although she plummeted into depression, her doctor merely handed out valium for her anxiety because she never told the truth and was careful to never be seen with a bruise. Likewise, her husband was also an expert at hurting her so that the evidence of the domestic violence was not obviously on show.

When Mary had finally confided in her mother, she had received no words of comfort or encouragement to leave. Mary was told that a MacBeth did not run away, she had married Robert and it was her duty to stay with him. Her mother explained that pressures sometimes led men to use their wives roughly as the stresses mounted up but that she shouldn't take it personally…it was just the worries of life building up and needing an escape valve.

Little Aaron loved to visit his grandparents and as he got older tried to stay over with his Granny as much as he could because he became the target of both parents in different ways. If his father came in smelling of alcohol, Aaron knew to stay quiet and keep his head down or risk a beating or a tirade. His mother could not be counted upon to protect him from these outbursts and he sometimes witnessed his father's violence towards his mother. The small boy instinctively knew this was wrong, but when he had tried to tell his beloved Granny she had told him that he must never tell anyone about such things or he would be taken far away from home and they would never see him again. For little Aaron this was a threat that he dreaded, so he kept quiet because it was far better to stay with a situation that you had learnt to cope with rather than risk being taken away from people he did love like his Granny. The boy loved is mother too but he didn't understand her moods and the fact that she didn't stop his beatings; he just didn't understand what he had done wrong. Granny had told him that it was all connected with the problems his father was having with his work and he was to try and not annoy his father.

Aaron knew that other homes had a different atmosphere and he liked to visit his friends to play. He realised that his mother's behaviour changed if they had visitors or his friends returned the visit. Then she was all soft and giving but once they had gone it was as if the light switch had been turned to off and that bright and glowing personality was returned to the dark. She later mixed alcohol with the valium she was taking, it was a volatile combination and she could for periods of time have a vicious tongue. This vicious negative use of language was poured down upon Aaron, especially as he grew older because he looked the image of his father. At the same time his father was spending more time out of the house; his mother would bitterly say that he was chasing women and spending what little savings they had.

By the time he was 7 years old, Aaron was like an old man in his wisdom for survival, he possessed the charm and manners of his heritage but he already knew that the family was living a lie. The boy was caught between his two parents who hated each other; neither would admit fault nor take the necessary steps to end the loveless marriage. When older he was able to look back quite dispassionately upon his early years, but at the time he went through years of being on the end of his mother's sharp tongue in private and her gentle supportive one in public. His father was likewise deceptively charming to the outside world and a violent bully behind closed doors.

Aaron grew to be a naturally popular child with a deep sense of integrity. He strongly felt it very important to follow through a promise because his own parents had caused so many disappointments in his own young life with words that were never kept. The parental words sounded good for the listeners but in private the words were cruel and in a less charismatic child would have done considerable harm. But Aaron did have his grandmother and he tended to only think of the good memories associated with her.

The effects of all this parental behaviour upon the child was that Aaron grew to hate his father because he could not be trusted and was violent to both his wife and son. Meanwhile, the boy was increasingly wary of his mother because of her moods, vicious words and later her own secret drinking, while he was at school, increased her volatile nature. Both parents had pressured him to succeed academically at school; he had been told that it was his duty to gain a scholarship to one of the better private schools in the state. But Aaron naturally worked hard at school because he enjoyed the praise teachers gave, a praise that he rarely heard at home.

However, just as Aaron was effectively coping with the home situation, it all suddenly changed. On October 28th, when Aaron was 10 years old, a policeman came to the door at almost 9 p.m. His mother opened it and Aaron lingered on his way to bed and heard his mother gasp…

"Ma'am can I get you a friend or relative, you really should have someone with you at this time? …."

Aaron realised as he listened from the top of the stairs, that his violent father was dead. There had been an accident; Robert Finlay had lost control of his vehicle as the car had taken a bend too sharply and it plunged at speed into a warehouse building. Robert was pronounced dead at the scene and later the alcohol in his blood stream was judged to be three times over the legal limit.

It should have been a devastating event but to both wife and son there was only an immense feeling of relief. Aaron found that he could not cry, even at the funeral, but the immediate days after were dominated by the worries of Robert Finlays' debts. It was a period of shame for Mary, who moved back to the family home with her son and sold the house and remnants of the Finlay business. Mary sold her engagement ring to pay for the funeral expenses and looked around for work. Aaron was forced to change schools now he was living under his beloved grandmother's roof but he had never felt happier and he watched his mother's health improve and her sniping toward him lessened. It was only much later that he understood that his mother had been at first given drugs for anxiety, now another doctor stopped those and gave her anti-depressive drugs and her secret drinking was curbed under her own mother's watchful eye.

Mary was found work through her mother's contacts, with a charity, and she threw herself into this and began almost immediately to carve out a new identity for herself. Reflecting as an adult, Hotch could now recognise the actions of a woman finally free and able to be herself, even if she now ignored her son.

But two years later, Joshua Hotchner became his stepfather and welcomed the young Aaron as if he was his own flesh and blood. Joshua was the opposite of his father and was a caring, warm-hearted man who worked with a legal practice specialising in marital separation and divorce. This lawyer did not come from a wealthy background but his parents had come to America from Europe in 1929, in the hope of a better life for their children, and had embraced the American work ethic. Both Joshua and his older brother, Henry, had won scholarships to university and both had studied the law. Henry decided to follow the path as a public prosecutor in New Jersey while Joshua was offered a position in Richmond, Virginia. He remained in the state to build a reputation as a compassionate lawyer with the interests of children firmly at the core of any divorce settlement that he handled.

Joshua had treated Aaron with respect from their first meeting and gained the boy's trust over the months. Aaron also saw a different mother with the appearance of Joshua into her life and, while Granny might think his beginnings were not what she had wished for her daughter, he did have money. With this second marriage, Mary's life was transformed and gradually Aaron trusted this man who had become more of a father than his own biological one. When Mary became pregnant, Joshua had asked young Aaron to his study …and Hotch vividly remembered the episode in his life.

"Aaron, you know that this baby is important to your mother and myself but I don't want you to feel sidelined in any way. It would be an honour if you would allow me to be your legal father by adoption…" he asked formally in his quiet and gentle voice, the china blue eyes had shone with hope towards the 12 year old Aaron.

Aaron looked up in disbelief, "Mom wants this too?" he had asked not wanting in anyway to annoy her. Aaron knew that he represented the bad memories of her first marriage and was a constant reminder by just looking so like his dead father.

"She said that it had to be your choice and that you were old enough to make that decision…I just want you to know that I consider you like a son and I always will even if you choose not to change your name."

Aaron stared at this unimposing man, slightly smaller than his mother, but Joshua never felt the need to insist that his wife wore flat shoes. He indulged Mary's love of fashion with a generous 'clothing' allowance and she now felt happy and satisfied with her life. The boy felt at a loss for words, but suddenly his eyes filled with all of the suppressed emotions over the years and wanted to hug this man who had given him a more stable and certainly happier existence.

"Well, I guess that's a yes then," Joshua had said as he returned the hug. When they had composed themselves, they went to find Mary to tell her their news and for the first time Hotch felt really loved by the people around him. Joshua remained true to his word and treated him as his older son and no different from Rachel or the younger Sean. Hotch's heart suddenly skipped a beat at the thought of Rachel, she had died but she would never be forgotten for the happiness she had given those who knew her. Hotch mentally pulled the door shut on the still painful memory of the loss of a beloved sister and thought about his early life again.

Hotch had become a day student at a local private school and it was there that he had met Hayley, who had won a scholarship and was two years younger than him. It was love at first sight as far as Aaron was concerned, but while his mother never thought Hayley good enough for him, Joshua had understood and made her welcome.

It was ironic that Joshua, with all of his goodness, was to die unexpectedly. But he did see Aaron graduate and take up the law and was immensely proud when he became a prosecutor. Aaron had discovered an interest in that area of the law after he spent one summer working in his Uncle Henry's office as a student. Joshua had rejoiced in Hayley and Hotch's quiet marriage and smoothed the atmosphere with his wife over her disappointment concerning the simple ceremony in New York. But a month later, Joshua Hotchner had died following triple by-pass heart surgery. The family was shocked, they all thought he would survive the operation and the surgeon was one of the best. But perhaps none of them had really appreciated just how ill Joshua was because he always seemed so calm and giving towards people that he would never distress them with his own problems.

Mary Hotchner was plunged into a new depression, which was even greater than the earlier one that Hotch remembered of the first marriage. Rachel and Sean were equally distressed with the suddenness of events. Aaron quite naturally slipped into the role as head of the family and when Rachel's illness was diagnosed, a year later, organised the best doctors and treatment he could for her because his mother seemed totally frozen by this double blow to her emotional life.

Rachel had fought leukemia with a cheerful dignity, that reminded all who saw her of her late father, but ultimately she had not survived despite the wonderful care she had received. Sean was left to cope with their mother, who was once more drinking too much for her own good, and he became listless in his attitude to school. Sean was an intelligent student but the deaths of his father and sister reminded him of his own mortality and he wanted to live life in a faster lane while he could. Unfortunately, this led him to be the rebel at school and his behaviour began to be called disruptive. Mary Hotchner could not control this teenager and for a time Hayley and Hotch had him living with them in New York, where he was enrolled at a local school so they could give him some stability and 'parental' control.

Hotch now thought about the support that Hayley had given Sean while he was with them and also for the strength she had always shown when Hotch changed their lives. He was well aware that he didn't always get the work/home equation to neatly balance. Hayley had married a man who was a lawyer and had always had a leaning towards the law from the very first time that they had met. She had supported his change from being part of the Manhattan D.A. team to joining the FBI as a prosecutor and then his change in direction to train as an agent. Hayley had loyally followed him on his placements and encouraged his career as a junior agent, his diplomatic duties, a period in SWAT, his time training with the BAU, time spent with the Anti –Terrorism branch and later being sent to the northern reaches of the country to be a Senior Agent at the Seattle Field Office. Often these moves took Hayley well away from her established friendship groups but she had always made the effort to make a new circle of friends. As a legal secretary, she was always able to find work but this was never enough to mask her disappointment and feelings of failure over her numerous miscarriages. Finally they had returned to Virginia again, when Hotch took over as the Head of the BAU, but this time had also brought a successful pregnancy and Hayley was happy until she wanted another child….

Hotch turned restlessly, his thoughts focussed once more onto Louise. He had done all he could legally but he'd make her life hell if she reneged on their agreement. The ice cold determination of Hotch's inner steely core clutched at his soul; he would willingly give Louise's child a warm loving home for the sake of Hayley's well being and to give his beloved son a sister.

Dawn brought the fire fighters a natural light to sift through the remains and for the police forensic team to search the immediate vicinity. Morgan finally had the opportunity to talk to the Fire Chief, George Pierremont.

"Well…you got any feelings about this one?" the agent asked over the coffee that a young officer had gone to get for the whole group from the nearest coffee shop that opened at 6:30.

George drank more of his coffee as he thought about his words carefully,

"My men thought there was a smell of gasoline as they got here and they were suspicious about the way the fire burned. It was like the old barn fire, but this time more accelerant was used, and it started at the back of the house in a room that wouldn't be seen easily from the street until the fire was well ablaze. You know I've got my ideas on how but not the evidence to confirm it."

"How?" asked Morgan wanting to know this capable man's thoughts.

"It was planned, they probably forced the back door, care was taken to pour the gasoline in the rooms. Then I think a fuse of gasoline soaked rope…or it could have just been braided old strips of material soaked in gasoline, but then this was unwound and gave them a little time and distance."

"Them…so you think this was definitely not a lone arsonist?"

"Yeah, setting a gasoline fire can be dangerous because of the vapours that can linger on the arsonists clothes, or if they splash themselves, just tossing a match can bring the fire to them so they needed some distance. But this wasn't a crude timing device …this was more the work of a long fuse there is evidence of a trail of burn from outside the building...Come and see, I've got Culson filming things," Pierremont said turning knowing Morgan would follow.

The two men stood about nine feet from the blackened remains of the house and surveyed the scene; the roof had collapsed inwards and brought down the remains of the upper floors. The outer brick walls still stood forlornly but the heat had cracked and popped the windows so shards of glass were amongst the debris to be sifted through. Looking down at the back yard area and around their feet, they could just see where heavy fire boots had not destroyed the evidence of tiny patches of scorched earth. Morgan's expert eyes mentally linked these patches together and saw how they made a narrow path to where the back door once stood.

"Clever really, in the dark, the priority would be to put the fire out and not be stepping carefully to save these tiny clues but you can just make out a line even if it is broken by footprints and the signs of the hoses. The forensics people have already been along here, photographed and taken samples to analyse back at the lab. The buildings not safe to enter yet…it'll be another couple of hours, but the first floor was set alight…and from the pattern almost at the same time. I think gasoline was trailed through the rooms but the fuse was from the back room because that is where the fiercest burning took place. There seems to have been a defined path into the front room of the house as shown by the intense burning along the ground level at certain points," explained Pierremont as they stood by the non-existent back door and peered through the gap along the charred ground. The fractured remains of internal walls, made from plasterboard, was testament to a mixture of fire and water damage on this first floor before the uppers floors came crashing down. Forensics would again take samples and analyse the content from the area, when it was safe to do so, to determine if the Fire Chief's speculations were correct.

Morgan nodded, it all sounded too plausible, catching arsonists was not easy unless they were caught in the act or they left evidence that could be traced back to them.

"I think one of them put the gasoline down and laid the fuse and then got well away so as not to be too close in case of a vapour flash point. I would've worn protective gear like overalls and then I'd carefully take them off along with protective gloves. The accomplice would wait while he did all this and put the gear away before he felt it safe to be able to cleanly light this fuse and get away too," explained Pierremont as he continued his speculation.

Morgan nodded, he could imagine the picture all too clearly but he doubted anyone would have seen them, it was far too dark around here at night and the city held more attractions than this half finished and deserted estate. Shame about the house though, it had briefly been a home before the owners could no longer keep up the mortgage payments. The only plus points about these fires were that no one had been injured or died and the local newspaper was calling this the act of vandals. But Morgan could feel that this was escalating, starting small and the excitement fuelling the desire for greater spectacles. He hoped that the surrounding area might hold some clues but so far such a break had eluded the police.

Luis arrived and raised his hand in greeting to Pierremont before turning to talk to Morgan, "Feel like some breakfast?"

"Yeah," replied Morgan suddenly realising how the hours had disappeared along with the once pristine home.

"There's a pleasant diner on the road back towards the main part of town, I'll drive you and we can discuss where to go next."

"I'll think forensics have the stage for the next few hours at least, but hopefully we'll get some of the chemical results reasonably quickly…You heard Pierremont's thoughts on the fire?" Morgan replied.

"The gasoline thing…but I've not walked the scene with him yet. I was making a plea for witnesses for the breakfast time local news slot. The locals are taking the line that its vandals and slating the youth but this isn't your normal vandalism…"

"No, vandalism has a spontaneity but this felt planned," replied Morgan as he let his dry scratchy feeling eyes take in the neat rows of residential houses, that gradually gave way to more apartments, and then an increase of commercial buildings that indicated the proximity of the inner city. The agent felt tired and hungry and he thought he could still smell the lingering smoky acrid odours of the fire. Perhaps a shower and some sleep would not go amiss after breakfast.

Late afternoon found a refreshed and much more comfortable Morgan bounding up the steps into the Police Headquarters. He had rung Angela before leaving, knowing that her classes were over for the day, and told her of the events and hoping that the initial forensic reports would be ready by the time he went back to his assigned desk.

The slender and pretty Tina flashed him a smile and the dark eyes flirtatiously shone her appreciation of the strong looking physique of the agent. Morgan liked the look she gave him and grinned a little broader. The small voice of his conscience tried to question his behaviour towards this woman but the louder inner voice of his ego bellowed back that he wasn't married and it was just being friendly with the natives.

The civilian clerk, Vic, shouted over as he passed the clerks station that he'd put the preliminary forensic reports on his desk. Morgan nodded and his pace quickened, it was good to be on a case that was picking up.

Less than an hour later, Morgan leaned back in the chair and acknowledged to himself that Pierremont knew his stuff. The forensics team had confirmed the presence of gasoline traces from various ground samples and they had identified cotton fibres, similar in the weight and weave of cotton material used for shirts. These also had traces of gasoline, and had survived out in the yard, because of the soil that had prevented minute samples from burning completely. The evidence collected along an apparent 'fuse line' supported Pierremont's idea. The surrounding area had been carefully covered for any traces of suspect activity that might prove relevant but they had not found anything.

Morgan noticed that Luis had written in pencil at the bottom of this report, 'probably used cheap cigarette lighter as no evidence of matches were found in the vicinity.' The agent unconsciously nodded his head as he read and he began to think about the unsubs. All of the evidence indicated youth, especially if the isolated camp like fires were part of the overall profile, but there was also an intelligence as indicated by the careful planning and the gradual confidence to take on larger targets. But he was puzzled by the crude timer…or was that a mis-conception by the investigators? Perhaps it had been just an old clock that had been a victim of the fire in the old farm shop. Or maybe one of the unsubs had an interest in timers while the other didn't have that sort of mind to step up into something more sophisticated. The idea began to grow in Morgan's mind, if he was right, then the next fire would involve a timing device and that would indicate a pair of unsubs…siblings or friends….

Derek Morgan's eyes registered the time given by the digital clock on the wall, it was time to call in or Barry would be on his heels about not reporting on a regular basis. He reached for the phone and keyed in the BAU number, strangely Morgan didn't really miss the team, and in fact he quite liked the situation he was in and thought that he could get use to this old way of doing things. It was like being a consultant out in the field and he enjoyed the kudos that this Police department was giving him.

Barry listened carefully and made notes about the developments in Lompoc. He assured Morgan that he was there for at least a week as far as the BAU was concerned. Anderson and Prentiss were covering the lectures he had been timetabled to give the law enforcement personnel who were there on 'updating' courses. Barry personally thought that Morgan sounded like he was in his element and being the sole BAU agent probably appealed to the younger man's ego.

Barry remembered the early days before the 'team' was formed and working out alone in the field, or if you were lucky, with a fellow agent to keep you company. It could all be very daunting when the going got rough and you were miles away from base and also on your own. Often you were only called in as the last resort and by then evidence might have been tainted by the original interpretation of the case, or had been lost because the clues had not been gathered at the original crime scene and that was now degraded or totally cleaned away. Barry also remembered that some LEO's were not very welcoming because they felt the fancy FBI were going to just take over and steal the show when they had done all the initial hard work. The Senior Agent felt Derek Morgan was very fortunate to be with Rodney Luis; he was a capable lawman and a thoroughly pleasant man and hoped that Morgan wouldn't let his egotism take over.

It was 21:30 and Luis was just about to go home when the depleted staff in the Police Headquarters was brought to a standstill as they heard a big bang. After the momentary shock, venetian blinds were opened and faces peered into the night sky to see where that noise had come from.

Morgan was already saying that it sounded like a bomb, when Luis took a call on his cell phone.

"That was direct from George, the old garage on the Garten Road had just gone up," he said to Morgan and the staff within hearing.

But all faces were turned to the light in the distance, as a spectacular ball of fire rose up and mushroomed a little at its uppermost tip…

"Jeeez!" someone said but all eyes were transfixed on the powerful scene dominating the skyline in the distance.

The duty sergeant rushed in and stopped at the sight, he gulped to regain his composure before announcing,

"The old garage on the Garten Road has gone up, the underground tanks haven't been in use for years and were thought to be empty but…" he stopped as the distant fire seem to paralyse the room.

Morgan's professionalism clicked into gear.

"Please tell me that the old storage tanks were professionally emptied?"

"It's been empty for a good ten years. Tim Horsley, he must have been in his 80's when he died and his widow passed on soon after too," relied Luis trying to get his thoughts in order and turned away from the burning image in the hope that it would help him to regain some control over himself.

"That part of town has been neglected over the years and no body wanted to buy the old garage. Rubbish has a tendency to be dumped on the old forecourt…you know the sort of thing, shopping trolleys, old furniture and packing cases. The city clears the area every so often but the owner doesn't pay up when the bill is sent, it's an on going case of legal letters. The owner is a Horsley niece but she lives in New York State and has never been here, I don't think she even came for the funerals."

"Oh God, so we don't know how much old fuel could still be left …This could be burning for days and the smell will linger over the city. Hell!… The Fire department will have their hands busy over this one but we need to film the crowd," said Morgan hoping that someone was listening to him.

"You're right. Call in everyone to do crowd control. We'll have to put the 'Disaster' plan into play, it can always be stood down if we've over re-acted…But if George and his people can't get this under control we may be calling in surrounding fire departments and they will need a clear run …I'll need to contact the State Troopers…" Luis said thinking about the necessary moves and Vic left to set into motion the captain's orders, "I need to call the Chief…"

"No need I'm here!" called the Police Chief, his broad frame entered and immediately dominated the room but his usual jovial demeanour now looked deadly serious.

"George rang me almost as soon as I heard the explosion. I'll get the Disasters Control Room up and running with the civilian personnel while we wait for George's initial report from the scene…Go on, we're not role playing tonight!"

Morgan gathered the camcorders and Luis joined him a few minutes later in the police car park.

"I'm ready to take you now. We had a message from George who says that a company was paid to empty the tanks but there's usually some residue and, more crucially, the tanks hadn't been properly cleaned so are dangerous. But they had been securely capped and the Fire Department checks those caps four times a year, the last time, just before Christmas as part of their usual checking of hydrants etc. He's hoping that they'll be able to contain this because it's just residue but it'll look spectacular against the night sky and the smell will be bad. The Chief is having the units go round to order people to keep their windows and vents closed and we're going to evacuate any residents in a mile radius of the fire as a precaution. The radio and television stations have been informed to give out the warning too. Fortunately, there are not many houses that way as its become run down over the years… There are mostly warehouses and small factory units on that edge of town."

Morgan was silent as they sped through the streets. The heavy sickening smell of burning motor fuel filled the air and Morgan thought how very few people were out on the street and concluded that the smell had sent them indoors, even if they would be watching the night sky from their windows. Arriving as close as the police cordon would permit, they got out of the car and recorded the crowd. It was not as big as might have been imagined, the smell of the burning vapours made the air oppressive and stinging not just to the eyes; Morgan thought his chest tightened as he worked recording the die-hards who were fascinated by the real life drama on their doorstep.

Luis and Morgan had been given basic masks that covered their noses and mouths to filter the air, but the fire fighters closer to the burning fuel had their full breathing gear on because Pierremont didn't want any eye and lung problems with his people. As the effects of the fire worsened, the crowd began to cover their noses and mouths with hankerchiefs and scarves. Morgan was pleased that they had got there quite quickly to record before most of the onlookers felt the need to protect themselves from the irritants in the atmosphere. Less than an hour after the explosion, the audience thinned and only network camera crews and journalists braved the scene but they looked uncomfortable and kept well back as the police instructed.

Morgan thought that they had been fortunate, or that they had considerate arsonists who had chosen sites well away from homes. Like Luis had earlier said, this was a sparsely populated area and although the garage might have been a dumping ground for trash, it wasn't that close to a factory or a warehouse in present use. The nearest buildings on either side were derelict, graffiti ridden and roofless but if they burned no harm would be done. Across the broad width of the road was the nearest building that was presently in use and that was a warehouse for new wine bottles; a place where they were stacked ready to be delivered to vineyards to be filled and labelled with their particular identity ready for sale. The old three-storey red brick building seemed to glow in the firelight but it looked solid enough and the wind was kind and gently blowing away from the warehouse. The general feeling was that the fire might look spectacular but they didn't feel it was a threat to anything else close by.

An early breakfast was declined because no body felt like eating; it was as if they could taste the burning fuel in their mouths and they stank of the burning pungent vapours. Morgan went back to his hotel room and took a lingering shower to wash away as much as he could of the events of the night. He washed his mouth out several times with the spearmint mouth wash he liked to use and was grateful for his shaven head…When he had left Luis, the captain had been complaining about the feel of the stuff in the atmosphere that had coated even his hair. The foam used for the fire had coated everything in the immediate vicinity and it would be interesting if any clues had even survived the dowsing the fire had been given. It was all very necessary of course but no clues would not help the investigation…However, perhaps he was being too pessimistic and when the forensic team was allowed on to the scene they might find something to advance the theories beginning to take shape. Morgan dried himself with the soft cream bath towel that the hotel provided and sank wearily down on the bed. He was thankful to have a few hours rest before the progress meeting at midday in the Chief of Police's office.

The insistent ringing of the hotel phone roused Morgan from his dreamless sleep. He stretch his long arm to grab the offending noise…

"Morgan," he said dragging his mind awake and glanced at the room clock, 11:15.

"Agent Morgan, this is Station Sergeant Walt Bremner, Captain Luis asked me to ring you. A suspect timer has been found during a precautionary check of other possible targets that Chief Pierremont had decided to have his men go over this morning."

Morgan's mind had clicked into gear, "Where?" and he swung his muscular legs easily over the side of the bed to sit up mentally preparing to get ready quickly and moving.

Less than 10 minutes later he met Rodney Luis in the hotel car park and the captain swung his car into the main street and headed out to the new target.

"You remember the conversation we had about possible targets before we all decided to skip breakfast for showers and sleep?"

"Yeah, Pierremont said that there were several more remote sites that the fire department did check through the year…old factories, the old bus station that's waiting re-development…All places not far from the old garage that went up last night," Morgan recalled and now wished he'd grabbed a roll from the local diner/take away as he felt his empty stomach begin to twist on itself.

"Right! Well George is conscientious and set his people off to check and hit gold…An ex-soldier didn't like what he saw and reported back…George went to have a look and called for a bomb disposal team, they were rushing over to deal with it. Looks like your idea about one of these unsubs wanting to stretch himself a bit and to step up to a more sophisticated challenge has happened," Luis replied as he made a left turn and was then held up by traffic lights a little further down the street.

Morgan recognised some of the area they were now driving through from the previous evening and the breakfast time drive back to the hotel. But Luis suddenly swung the car into a cordoned off area where a truck, clearly labelled with the bomb disposal unit logo, was parked ahead of them. As Morgan got out and turned to face the approaching figure of George Pierremont, the agent's eyes rested upon the tall and muscular man a step behind the Fire Chief. Derek Morgan had not thought he would meet this old rival again and he unconsciously straightened his shoulders ready for the encounter, his eyes never wavering from the man's dark brown face.

End of Chapter 17


	18. Chapter 18

**The Interregnum: Chapter 18**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Morgan's empty stomach churned on itself and he was very aware of the noise as Luis glanced his way and grinned.

"Didn't get any breakfast then," the Captain whispered softly but he had noticed the difference in the agent's demeanour and his eyes instinctively turned on the newcomer with Pierremont. Luis wondered what the connection was between these two men because that was the sense he was picking up.

" Rueben King, Bomb Squad, Captain Rodney Luis, Lompoc P.D.," Pierremont began the introductions, "SSA. Derek Morgan, BAU…I've got that right haven't I?" the Fire Chief asked picking up the unexpected suppressed tension in the air.

"Yeah, no problem…King and I were in the same batch of recruits for the FBI," assured Morgan but the smile was a pale shadow of his usually relaxed and confident beam that the Lompoc people had come to know.

"Good to see you again, Morgan, and nice to meet you Captain although I'm sure we would all prefer happier circumstances," the big man said shaking the Captain's hand firmly and Luis looked into large calm dark eyes. The Captain instinctively knew this steady man was confident at his job.

"What have we got?" Luis asked getting down to business.

"It looks like a crude timer attached to a small plastic container, that probably contains an accelerant, but these home-made devices can be unstable. We could do a controlled explosion but we could lose valuable evidence so I was telling the Chief here that we'll try disconnecting the timer and the fuse so you'll have something to work with," King answered with a surprisingly soft tenor voice for such a giant of a man.

"Can I help?" asked Morgan who was eager to see the evidence in its original location.

"Morgan, my people are the Bomb Squad so let us do our job… we don't tread on your toes…." the giant answered but there was a warning edging itself into that soft tone of voice.

Pierremont and Luis exchanged glances; neither liked the undercurrent of tension between these two men.

"I'd just like to take a look before things get moved," replied Morgan challenging his fellow agent.

"Morgan, I've recorded the scene so you don't physically need to be near the device. What's more you'd be breaking the rule book if you placed yourself there after I'd arrived and taken charge of the scene," said the giant who held his ground while the two Lompoc men both sensed old scores might be rising to the surface.

"You know I worked Bomb Squad too so I'll not do anything…I just want to take a look," argued Morgan irritably as if the two other men where not there.

"Yeah, right…but I know you and you just can't resist being seen to be the hero and I don't want you interfering until after my people have made this scene safe."

"You're just being pedantic because you think you can put me in my place," countered Morgan.

"I don't need too…the fact that you didn't stay on the front line of bomb disposal is testament to your unsuitability for my sort of work…." the big man stated calmly.

Morgan bristled; "You've been wanting to say that for some time haven't you!" he challenged.

"Morgan, you didn't have the temperament for the actual disposal work. You were more suited for the intellectual challenge of lab work and following up how a bomb was made and the sort of person behind the device. Look man, it was your ability for reconstruction and to think about the kind of unsub who'd construct a particular device that got you into the BAU. I would have thought that the BAU held more kudos for your ego than the Bomb Squad anyway. Or does it still rankle with you that you were taken out of the field because of your excitable temperament," stated the calm voice but to the Lompoc men this was getting out of hand.

"Agent King, I'm sure that Agent Morgan here is feeling the after effects of last night's fire…I know I am! I swear I could still taste that gasoline over breakfast and I've had too little sleep to be feeling at my best this morning," interjected Luis to smooth the atmosphere.

The two dark faces looked hard at each other and then the giant turned to face the Captain.

"Chief Pierremont has been filling me in on the series of fires. Sounds as if you may have a serial arsonist or perhaps he's not working alone…I think I'd better see to my team and get you as much hard evidence as we can from this break you have. But for everyone's safety, I do have to ask you to stay behind the cordon because I'll be in trouble if anyone gets hurt unnecessarily," King said firmly.

"Of course," Chief Pierremont readily agreed and let his eyes scan the immediate area so he could place his men, "I'll get my people over by my car," he assured and left to gather his fire fighters to him.

Rueben King turned to face Morgan once more but said nothing, however, the look spoke volumes and Luis decided to make sure he found out more from King later.

Morgan felt hungry and tired but mostly annoyed with himself for letting King get the upper hand in the situation.

"Come on, Morgan, lets go and get you a roll or something. There's a diner a couple of blocks away and I need some more coffee to try and get rid of that gasoline taste."

Morgan didn't reply but turned tiredly to follow the even tempered LEO. In his heart he knew the Captain was a fine judge of character and he now felt ashamed of his crass behaviour in front of this man.

It was a short drive and the diner was clean, even if it was sparsely decorated, and it was beginning to fill up with people ordering their lunches. The middle aged Latino woman behind the counter looked up with a grin and greeted Luis like an old friend.

"You can have the reserved table at the back there…you know the one we always keep for the staff in the vain hope of a few slow minutes to snatch a quick meal ourselves."

"Connie…are you complaining that you're so busy that you don't like seeing this place so popular?" Luis teased.

"Heaven forbid, we've been here 20 years now and we have a loyal clientele…You staying for lunch or just a snack?" she enquired.

"My colleague here missed breakfast and we've both had too little sleep because of last night's events…We both need coffee for starters and what do you fancy Derek?" he asked the younger man who was staring at the menu choices, "It's on me so choose what you'd really like."

"Ham and cream cheese harvest roll and that apple pie looks tempting," and his stomach added a comment of agreement.

"Make that two, never know when I'll get another meal after this brief stop!"

"As if your Janet doesn't feed you…" muttered Connie good-humouredly and passed the written order through the hatch to the inner kitchen. She poured the coffees and soon the men where feeling more relaxed as the food arrived and they ate in a thoughtful silence.

Morgan's mood improved with the food and as he finished the apple pie he felt that Luis needed an apology for his earlier ill tempered outburst with King.

"Sorry about all that earlier," he muttered and hated sounding at a disadvantage but it was his own doing.

Rodney Luis nodded, "We're all a bit tired at the moment but just remember that the BAU is very special work. You must have been very good to have got a position there as I understand they don't offer many agents a chance to train up for the work," he soothed Morgan's bruised ego. "Still didn't you say you worked undercover in narcotics as a cop before applying for the FBI?"

"Yeah, I think all that experience helped to get me in, but after the initial training you apply to a more specialist department as a junior agent. I had become interested in bomb work as a cop but I got sidelined into the lab side of things. That lab work was a different challenge and required other skills and I already had an interest in obsessive personality disorders…My sister has a Obsessive Compulsive Disorder…I became more interested in the motivation of the criminal mind and so I got more drawn towards the BAU. There are always more agents applying for the too few positions that arise and there is quite a high burn out rate in the first year because the pressures are intense with the sort of often emotionally charged cases we deal with. So selection is careful to start with but if you can survive that first year then there's a good chance of coping for many more. The key to coping is to find a way that works for you so you can switch off from the horrors we see on the job."

Luis nodded, "Yeah, I can appreciate that. I've been a cop for over 22 years and although we do have our odd murders they're usually domestic based and fairly straightforward. I've never dealt with a serial killer. We've had the reported rapes, but not all are strangers to the victim and nothing that turned into a serial rapist. Although we did have a nasty case of gang rape at a local college a few years back and that shocked the community to its core because they were middle class teens and the girl was from a poor Hispanic family. There were elements in the city that didn't like us pursuing the young men for something they saw as a drunken prank. I'll say this for the Chief and our DA; they were not going to be intimidated even if their re-election was getting close. In the end, they were both confirmed in their offices with even higher votes than before for the stand they made to uphold the law. I felt proud to be working here for that case. Overall, we are usually dealing with gang incidents these days and burglaries, which are all too often connected with drugs. We are trying to keep the drug problem with the young under control and have a lot of youth schemes to combat the incidence of gangs and drugs but teenage drinking does occur, especially during the long school vacations. Then there's the car theft and joyriding…nothing new there and you've been a cop yourself so you know what I'm taking about…But we don't usually touch the horrors your department gets called into."

"And I hope you never will…Stick with your normal crimes…honestly, the things I've seen can scar communities for a generation," stated Morgan and realised that he was feeling better already after coming to eat. The time away had also given him the space to reflect a little more on his encounter with King. It still irked him that King could get to him, even after all these years he seemed to always have the upper hand.

The Captain's cell sounded and he answered it.

"Yes, George…Oh good, right we'll come back then. Do you want anything bringing back with us?"

Morgan listened to this one sided conversation and surmised that King and his team had been successful because Luis seemed quite relaxed and even smiling to himself with the things the Fire Chief was telling him.

"Connie…12 regular coffees 'to go' please," the Captain said as he put his phone away and picked up the tab.

They were soon back in the car with Morgan nursing the box that Connie had thoughtfully provided to hold the coffees. The men looked up and grinned as they returned and walked over to the Captain's car to claim their drinks.

"Went well, King carefully recorded every step so we would have as much information as possible," said Pierremont to the pair and hoped that Morgan was in a better mood. King had not elaborated on whatever it was between the two men. George personally had a lot of respect for the King's abilities from what he had seen that morning.

Morgan for the first time saw the rest of the Bomb Disposal team; they were all middle aged Black Americans. They seemed a quiet confident bunch, no loud personalities leapt out of the crowd and they appeared to be naturally friendly as they mixed with the firemen as they drank the coffee. Morgan felt a surge of envy that they were respected for this dangerous work because in this area of expertise he had failed to win approval. Morgan remembered that day; it was not one he was ever going to easily forget….

The shopping Mall had been evacuated but if these bombs went off there could be a lot of casualties amongst the security personnel because the complex had been constructed with enormous walls of glass. It made the walkways light and airy and was a very attractive building compared with many such retail complexes. The glass roof has been designed to act like prisms in the pedestrian areas between shops; thus the prisms cast their spectrum of colours onto the sparking white tiles of the floors below.

Morgan had been with the Bomb Squad for 6 months and had passed his initial training and was now clocking up field time. It was good to be out of the classroom and actually getting down to the real thing. The adrenaline rush felt good although Morgan knew that he had to be focussed on the job in hand. So far they had found 6 suspect devices and the team of ten had been split into two's to assess the devices and report back to McNiece, the team's leader. The three newest members were instructed to visually assess and not to try and disarm any device they went to. The overall plan was to wait for a backup team to arrive so they could tackle as many identified devices as possible at the same time to eliminate the possibility of linked devices. McNiece has stressed that setting off an isolated device piecemeal might be dangerous if it contained a hidden feature to trigger the detonation of any number of other bombs in the vicinity. The ATF, of which the Bomb Disposal unit was a part, believed that a very organised cell was involved in at least two other recent bombings of retail complexes. So far they had little to go on only that these devices might look simple but they masked sophistication as other squads had discovered in New York State the previous week to their detriment.

It was unfortunate that King and Morgan ended up being teamed together to assess a suspect package on the third level in a woman's clothing shop. These two agents had both previously been cops but they had come to the FBI from different experiences. The single and flirtatious Morgan was confidant working alone. He had revelled in the deep under-cover he'd done with the narcotics division, and had been successful in that role. However, after Morgan's face became known he was moved back into more routine detective duties and boredom set in until he applied to the Bureau.

Whereas, King, a family man, had been a beat cop for four years in Denver his home city. He then transferred to the SWAT team where his reputation as a crack shot led him to become the 'sniper' of that team. However, King was tired of this role as he always seemed to be the one shooting the unsub and he wished that he didn't feel at times like the executioner although he was never trigger happy. He had become interested in the bomb squad work after protecting a couple of men disarming a device during a riot situation. He attended local preliminary courses and was considered psychologically even tempered enough for the work. However, cutbacks meant that a once possible training place was withdrawn but the leader of the team suggested the FBI and he was prepared to give him a good reference. The initial FBI bomb training had covered material he'd initially already touched upon but then it became more technically detailed and King excelled in the steadiness and the cool head needed to act under pressure. It was second nature to him, he always seemed so coolly detached to his SWAT colleagues on the job but at home he was the warm and dedicated husband and father. Now he seemed to slip well into the steadiness required for McNiece's Bomb Disposal team without a second thought and he felt totally at home. However, there was only one person he worked with at the moment who irritated him and that was the very man McNiece had now paired him with.

Morgan and King were just opposites in their approach to life and the cocky man from Chicago was just too loud for this team and his barely controlled energy was an edgy undercurrent. King was sure that Morgan would be a good agent but King just couldn't understand why this very physically energetic man had applied for this specialist training. King acknowledged that Morgan was obviously intelligent and had an abundance of self-confidence but it manifested itself in a noisy egotism that fed on the need to be noticed by the humans around him. King had further observed that the established members of the Bomb Squad were also very self confident but theirs was the steady quiet type because these men, who knew what they were doing, didn't need to broadcast the fact before, during nor after doing the job! In this field of work, it was obvious very quickly if you were skilled at the job in hand.

However, on this particular day, these two opposites had found themselves working together. Morgan immediately dashed forward in his usual need to be at the scene first as an indication of being 'in control' of the situation. King had quickened his strides so he was on his heels as they checked this shopping outlet with other Mall security. One of the Mall security men called them over to the hand and travel luggage area. There was a display of evening purses to one side and brightly coloured hand luggage near by along the same wall. But where the two displays met the man had found a suspicious 'tell-tale' package, similar to others already identified in the Mall.

Morgan had reached it first and crouched down to deftly take a closer look.

"Morgan!" King had warned when he reached him, "We were ordered to leave well alone…"

"I'm just taking a look," the other man said but he didn't look at the objector, and began to finger the outer package gently for access points.

"Morgan will you get away from it now!"

"Look…just get off my back, King," replied the irritated Morgan who was even more intrigued by what they had been pointed to.

King was annoyed about this man's behaviour which was endangering everyone else needlessly. He signalled for the security man to clear the shopping bay and took out his radio to call for McNiece.

Morgan continued to delicately make his assessment of the package and how well it had been put together. It looked so innocent, all smooth looking from the cursory glance and easily mistaken for an empty white box, the kind that a small fancy evening purse would have been packed in to keep it in pristine condition while on its travels from the factory.

"Morgan, stand back now!" the quiet commanding voice held a sharpness that was not King's. Morgan let his fingers hover over the box while he raised his eyes and found he was looking into the hazel eyes of the Unit Chief. McNiece's face was neutral but Morgan knew he was in trouble from the razor sharpness of the tone that told him he really should have followed the orders to the letter. Morgan slowly moved his hands to his sides and stood up, towering over McNiece.

Alex McNiece was not a man who felt intimidated. He had been in Special Forces Units where his small and wiry stature had been very useful and held its own hidden physical and psychological strength.

"Morgan come with me. King, mark this area then continue to check the bays on this side with the security men," the slightly built Bomb Squad Chief ordered. McNiece had been warned that Derek Morgan could be a bit of a maverick and needed firm handling. But the man's intelligence had stood out along with his desire to work in this specialised area and Morgan had been assigned to his Unit after training.

Once the men had moved away, Morgan compounded his behaviour by speaking first in his defence as they briskly walked out of the shopping bay and onto the walkway.

"I was only looking at the device to get a good initial assessment from the outside…I wasn't going to start opening it up." Morgan said in justification to the ramrod back of the figure striding out in front of him.

But then Morgan regretted his action and instantly knew that it would have been wiser to keep silent and taken the verbal reprimand that would be coming his way.

McNiece stopped abruptly in front of him and turned to face the younger man. Morgan was forced to shorten his own stride suddenly and came to a staggering halt so as not to walk into the smaller man.

"Morgan, the Bureau obviously thought you had useful qualities but as you cannot even obey simple operational orders, designed for the safety of others, I do not see you fitting well into my unit out in the field. You will go back to the unit's vehicles and wait there until I think you can be trusted to carry out a direct order," McNiece said with a straight back, it was a stance that gave him an unmistakable military bearing. The clear speech, although spoken in a normal volume, was magnified by the natural acoustics of the cavernous roof structure that acted as well as any public announcement system.

Morgan was mortified; the words seemed to be echoing throughout the central well of the building. No one could have failed to hear the words of censure and dismissal. He felt the eyes of everyone in the Mall on him as he made his way down the stopped escalators, all three of them, to the first floor and the nearest guarded exit. The policemen on duty at the exit both raised eyebrows as they silently stepped aside to allow him to escape the scene of his disgrace…But it had all been his own fault…

King had answered colleagues truthfully when they asked him what had happened and Morgan sensed the suppressed delight from the other Bomb Squad members. A few of the experienced ones had even said to his face that he should have done as he was told and he had better keep his head down and work at all the tasks now given to him. Perhaps, they had said, if he behaved sensibly over the next few weeks then he just might work his way back into the field. However, McNiece had finally sent Morgan back to base and he had no further input to the Mall crime scene. Derek Morgan was suspended for two weeks for disobeying orders and on his return had been sent to the Bomb Disposal labs to work on forensic reconstruction.

Morgan's ego took a hard hit because he didn't like to fail at anything he had chosen to do and he had wanted to be seen as successful with the actual field work in bomb disposal. However, McNiece was not going to pamper to anyone's ego and had always stressed the need for everyone in the unit to obey orders and consequently had never trusted Morgan again out in the field. However, Morgan's conscience reminded him that later he rarely explained exactly what his duties were in the Bomb Squad and as things were deliberately ill defined, the listener, usually female, assumed he was actually involved with disarming suspect devices.

Meanwhile, Morgan had worked hard in the labs and revealed a talent for the work and for getting a feel for the 'bomber'. Also, the more he was away from the actual 'disposal team' the more he realised how different he was from them. The team all seemed a quiet group compared with himself. Morgan felt that his quick independent spirit was not appreciated by the Bomb Squad that worked within more rigid safety rules that appeared to him too constraining for independent thought and action. Perhaps he was too set in his ways after all the undercover work he'd done because it did tend to encourage independence along with the pressures of keeping up a cover. Undercover was dangerous work but it was also exciting for all of its deception. Derek Morgan realised that he needed to be in a post that was more active, with a promise of more excitement and variety than the forensic labs of the Bomb Squad.

Morgan had attended some lectures by Dr. Jason Gideon and these fired his interest in the BAU that led him to take the other 'in house' courses on offer that had a psych leaning. Despite his disappointment of being taken away from the front line bomb disposal work this new interest gave him other insights and suddenly all his previous experiences began to click into place on another level. He had been instinctively reading criminals in a way that only good cops did and yet cops rarely analysed their actions, they just did the work to solve the crime and hopefully make the arrest. The aim as a cop was to get a tight case so the defence lawyers couldn't find a loophole in any way or an element of doubt to build a defence around.

"You OK, Derek?" asked Luis softly and Morgan was suddenly brought back to the present surroundings.

"Sorry…I was miles away. I guess it's the lack of sleep and them damn fumes from last night," he replied apologetically and wondered what he'd missed.

"I was going to take a look at the material the Bomb Squad have managed to save for us. Pierremont said that they are carefully bagging and labelling as they clear the scene. They cam-corded everything as they went along…George said that King told him that you had quite a reputation in the New York labs for your forensic work on explosive devices…"

Morgan looked up in surprise at the unexpected praise.

"Really! I guess I didn't think too much about it as I just worked hard on tasks hoping that I would be allowed more fieldwork. I must admit that I found being just in the labs frustrating after passing the initial bomb disposal training…"

Rodney Luis smiled. "Oh I think you ought to just look upon that time as leading you in the direction where your talents are now being most appreciated. I like to think that all of our life's experiences have purposes that are not always apparent at the time."

Morgan looked into the compassionate blue eyes and saw the look of a leader of men and nodded at the wisdom of the Captain's words. He also heard Erroll Hart's voice in his head telling him that only he had the power within him to try and curb the worse of his egotistical behaviour. Derek Morgan did have qualities within him that people admired even if they were not the ones that Morgan would immediately think off because he was too busy hiding his sensitive side under layers of crass 'Morgan the All Action Super Hero'. Morgan smiled to himself and Luis raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Jeez…I never expected to meet King here, the last time I saw him he was based in New York," he admitted with a rueful chuckle.

"Has he changed much?" Luis asked conversationally.

"No, King's still the even tempered giant who plays things by the rule book but in his field of expertise there's little space for manoeuvre…If you get too creative, or lose your concentration, then you're dead and with the possibility of taking others with you aswell. King's a really good man and from the looks of things his team totally trust him too…" replied Morgan honestly remembering how many times Hart had told him to apply his profiling skills to himself and ask himself if he liked what he saw. Since his sessions with Hart, Morgan had done this more than he would admit to the psych but usually only after he'd reacted badly to an incident. It was then on reflection that Morgan would look honestly at his motives and the underlying emotions.

Morgan on these reflective journeys would pretend that he was assessing the actions of another member of the public. In this detached way he had finally admitted to himself how some of his earlier behaviour towards Reid must have been down right annoying and totally insensitive with its crass sports jock bullying. He had tried to pass it off as teasing when Hotch pulled him up over the worse of the behaviour but in his heart he knew that he was being a bully.

Hart had been correct about Morgan's childhood; he had been the favourite of both parents and his Mom had not been able to cope with him when his father died and he began to push against the usual rules. The Morgan family were all dealing with their grief in their individual ways and for his Mom, that grief had also been an excuse for not pulling her son more firmly into line. If he was now commenting on a parent's behaviour over their son's actions, Morgan would certainly tell them to stop making excuses for the boy's behaviour…The father would not have tolerated it so why was the mother. But he knew that just being the only son had been special for both his parents and he had a close relationship with his Dad and his mother probably saw how alike the two males were.

Derek Morgan knew that Hart had acted with a brutal honesty to try and save his career. It was Morgan's own blind conviction that only he could do something about Reid's drug addiction…But he had been totally wrong about it all; Reid wasn't a drug addict. He should have confronted Reid, or at least told Hotch about his suspicions, but in typical Morgan fashion he had gone about it with out totally thinking out the scenario. He could be such an idiot where the genius was concerned and the older man had totally misjudged the younger agent's reaction. Reid had been unafraid to face upto Morgan and firmly told him that he had a private life and it would remain so. More recently, just reading Reid's book had been an eye opener because the genius hadn't been 21 when he'd done the interviews for his last doctorate and it was those studies that had brought him to Gideon's attention. Morgan knew that it was safer for his own ego to think that Reid was naïve. However, when Derek Morgan did turn his profiling skills on to the genius properly, and not to just see the things he wanted to see, then Morgan saw a more worldly and scarred man. Reid, the genius, was really trapped in his own uniquely intellectual world but he still tried to reach out to the lesser gifted humans around him.

Morgan mentally shook his head and tried to concentrate on the task in hand and followed Captain Luis towards the group of Bomb Disposal experts.

Back in Virginia, a woman stood before a mirror and stared at her changing shape. Louise was getting ready before attending a parent's meeting at the school where she worked. Although, she mused, she wouldn't be working there for much longer, in fact this was probably going to be the last time she'd see some of the parents. Louise had told the staff that she was acting as a surrogate for her older sister and after the baby was born she planned to join Ethan out in Hong Kong. The news of her pregnancy had escaped the staff room and a few of the older students had asked if she was actually pregnant. Louise had kept up the pretense and explained that this was all for her sister and glowed at the praise that the girls heaped on her, just like the staff, who thought that she was acting as the unselfish and compassionate sibling.

But Louise suddenly felt scared; she was no longer in control of her life. It was awful, this parasite was taking over her body and she just wanted everything to be over and to be with Ethan again. It had been a moment of madness; it wasn't even memorable sex and only left her with a sense of loneliness and longing for Ethan. She should have had an abortion as soon as she suspected but she kept deluding herself that she was just late and it was caused by all the over work and the different routine now Ethan was so far away.

Louise never thought that this was how a pregnancy would feel. She hated the feelings of nausea even when she tried to brush her teeth, the tiredness, the way her breasts felt uncomfortable as they began to change shape. Louise stared at her upper torso. She had once been a size A cup but now she had to wear a bra with a B cup. Ethan had noticed when he came home at Christmas but it had been the ideal opening to explain that she was expecting Hayley's baby…Not the truth of course…she could never tell him the truth, afterall he'd had a vasectomy.

Ethan had been surprised but then he thought it was a very generous gift for her sister, to give up her body to be an incubator. Then Ethan thought the timing was perfect because by the time she travelled out to Hong Kong he would hopefully have the apartment sorted out and they could start a new life out there teaching together and enjoying the different life style.

Her eyes wondered further down the reflected image. She thought her waist was thicker and turned to look at a side view of her changing body. She felt sure that she could see a bump now and her hand moved of its own accord to rest slightly on the mound. Not much of a bump, she assessed herself in a detached manner, but her once flat and tightly muscled abdomen was betraying her condition. It just added to the feeling that her own body was transforming into an image she didn't recognise anymore. It all seemed so alien to her. Louise liked to feel that she was in control of her life and these last few months were a nightmare where personal control was the last thing she was experiencing.

Then today there had been another surprise, but all the mothers around her had smiled re-assuringly and told her it was normal. But she had felt a something like a light fluttering in her abdomen and her heart skipped a beat as a sense of panic began to grow within her. The staff room had noticed and her colleagues had asked if she was all right because she had stopped suddenly in the room and felt the offending area. So now this parasite was moving and she could not ignore her condition and hated to imagine what was growing inside…Louise had tried not to look at the sonogram because she didn't want to think of this thing as human. The doctor had told them it was a girl and Louise had distantly thought that her father had three boys but he didn't want anything to do with this child. Jonathan had told her to get rid of it because he didn't want his marriage and family life destroyed by a stupid act of meaningless sex. So Louise had concentrated on watching Hayley's reactions, her sister had stood transfixed and couldn't keep her eyes off the screen and had even shown Jack. The doctor had smiled and encouraged the little boy who had shown the screen his engine. But Louise's own smile had been fake, she just felt detached in an alien body, and wanted the coming months to whiz by so she could leave and take up a new life away from all the reminders of her old one.

Louise had intended to wear her favourite pale blue tailored silk blouse but it didn't fit comfortably now her bust had grown. She had tried the green blouse which had a more generous cut and that at least buttoned without showing signs of strain and giving the impression that the buttons were going to pop off at any moment. But the green blouse didn't look right with the magenta skirt she had been planning to wear. She slipped on the brown skirt and found that the waist cut into her and the zip was difficult to do up. The black one was an even greater disaster because the button at the waist felt as if it was going to snap off at any moment and the stretchy fabric made her abdomen look enormous. Louise went over to the wardrobe and looked through a few more skirts on hangers but she didn't think any would fit because most were for a slender figure, and were designed to hug the well toned shape, so none were appropriate. She was beginning now to understand why Farah Jeavons had included a generous clothing allowance into the agreement she had signed. Perhaps she should have bought a new outfit especially for this evening.

The woman went and sat down on the end of the bed and stared at the open wardrobe and thought about the alternatives. She couldn't wear trousers; it was a rule that the women teachers for a parent's meeting, or after school event, had to wear a smart dress or skirt and blouse. Dress trousers could only be worn for teaching and a tracksuit for sports events. Men were expected to wear a smart suit and tie for such an evening occasion. Then the solution came to her, she might be able to get into the chocolate brown dress because it was an empire style and gathered in just under the bust line. From there the heavy silk material then fell softly, slightly shaped so it was not too full and wouldn't exactly look like the vastness of a maternity dress. She reached along the rail and found the hanger and thought how lucky she had not thrown it out last Summer when she gave a lot of clothes, she'd not worn for a couple of years, to the local Goodwill shop.

Louise slipped on the dress and was satisfied by the reflection in the mirror. She didn't look obviously pregnant, the material fell elegantly to just below the knee but it was certainly not the usual tailored clothing she liked to wear. Louise wondered why she had bought it originally and then remembered that it had been for the funeral of Ethan's mother. He had firmly told her, at the time, not to annoy his family by wearing her normal figure hugging clothes because they would be looked upon as inappropriate for the occasion. Louise thought it looked rather drab so she reached once more into the wardrobe and found a pewter and silver brocade jacket that she sometimes wore for more expensive restaurants and the better theatre seats. The image stared back at her; an attractive woman with short strawberry blond hair and a face that looked a little rounder than before Christmas, but she was satisfied with the sophisticated attire.

Louise parked her car in the staff car park and just as she was about to get out the parasite fluttered again within her. She felt sick, part of her had even at times hoped that she would miscarry in the early weeks when she was trying to come to terms with the consequence of the casual sex. This athletic woman had even run 10 miles a day and spent extra time at the gym doing more strenuous weight training for a few weeks when she had first suspected the pregnancy. She had tried so hard to encourage a miscarriage. It all seemed so unfair; she didn't normally engage in casual sex and thought that her actions with Jonathan had just been because she was missing her partner. Ethan was a thoughtful lover and over the years they had explored ways of satisfying each other's needs and her moment of weakness with Jonathan had not come anywhere near satisfying her usual expectations. Even when Ethan had come home at Christmas, he had accepted her story and then asked first if she wanted a more gentle penetration but Louise was not going to give up this physical pleasure and carried on as they normally did and still the pregnancy continued. Ethan's stay had been far too brief although he would be back again in April but by then she would be bigger and they would have to adjust their love making to what ever limits the baby commanded. She had read Hayley's pregnancy books that she had eagerly pressed in to her reluctant hands and these had been quite explicit about positions for sex in the later months. However, Louise wondered if Ethan would even find her attractive by then. Louise had never thought pregnant women attractive in fact she had always considered pregnant women to look ugly in the way that their bodies were distorted. Nor could she understand her two older sisters' obvious enjoyment in their pregnancies and the arrangements they had made for their babies many months in advance.

Even now she couldn't understand Hayley's desire to re-decorate the nursery for this child because it looked perfectly adequate for the new baby who wasn't going to notice anyway. However, Hayley had rung on Sunday evening to say that she had met the wife of one of Aaron's friends who was an interior designer and they had discussed ideas for the nursery. Louise had mentally switched off as Hayley enthused over the phone and just made the appropriate 'mmm, oh, really…' occasionally as she continued to read her latest crime paperback from the library. 'Oh well,' she thought as she walked towards the main entrance, 'At least Hayley wanted this parasite so she had done her best for it and Aaron was prepared to pay for all the medical fees and occasional expenses so she would not be out of pocket for her stupidity.'

Suddenly her entrance was brought to an unexpected halt, before her was Jonathan's wife, Zoe. Louise took a deep breath and tried to keep her smile in place.

"Louise! You look marvellous. Karen told me what you're doing for your sister…how very kind. I'm sure that she and her husband must be thrilled and they haven't had to resort to those web sites where surrogates advertise their services."

Louise smiled and wanted to escape as fast as possible, "Yes, everything is progressing normally and, as soon as I can after the birth, I'll be joining my partner in Hong Kong. We're planning a new life in that part of the world, Ethan's very happy there and can't wait for me to join him. Well, if you'll excuse me, I can see that I already have a line of parents eager to speak to me," she said and brushed past towards her appointed table and chairs for the brief parental interviews.

As she passed on her way, Louise glimpsed the questioning hard look of Jonathan across the hall, but she haughtily didn't give him the satisfaction of acknowledgement. Louise felt the power of knowing that she could destroy Jonathan's marriage if she wanted and by doing so she'd probably ruin his career at his school too. It was a dangerous game because both of them had too much to lose so both would keep well away from each other but ultimately, Louise felt that Jonathan had more to lose. Louise could always move somewhere else and begin a new life, even if she broke with Ethan, but Jonathan would always be emotionally bound to his sons even if he could cheat on his wife so easily. Louise knew that Aaron would make a far better father for this child than Jonathan ever would, despite the absences caused by Aaron's work, and Hayley was a proven good mother. Louise sat down in her appointed seat and smiled at the first parents to see her. She'd made one hell of a mistake but she was trying to do her best for the unwanted parasite.

Morgan rang the BAU technical support number and thought he was going to get Garcia but it was a stranger's voice.

"Agent Morgan, my name is Gavin Taurro, how can I help you?" asked a crisp bass male voice.

"Well first of all where's Garcia she usually does this night shift?" he asked irritably. Their relationship had cooled since she'd almost lost her job but he had tried to respect the new boundaries she'd erected around her.

"Garcia is helping in the 'white collar' section…they have a big case on and she's been doing a lot of work for them since the shake up. They've even given her a desk in their tech support section so we only see her in the corridor these days," the male voice informed him.

Morgan felt strangely bereft of the extrovert woman whose skills the BAU had always appreciated.

"So what can I do for you?" asked the man back at Quantico.

"Oh I just had a few ideas that I'd like checked out…I'm dealing with an arsonist case here and it might be young men…16 through to say 24… But I wonder if they might be connected with the fire department personnel in some way…not the children of but cousins or nephews…You get the idea?" asked Morgan tentatively wondering if Taurro was as fast as Garcia at picking up on the BAU's way of thinking. He'd never heard of the man before and wondered how long he'd been with the Bureau.

"You think that the fire-fighters' backgrounds have already been checked, including the children, but not the extended family and you feel that your unsubs are one step ahead, perhaps with inside knowledge about target sites?" Gavin Taurro replied as he tapped away at the keyboard.

"Yeah…it may be a long shot but I think we'd better eliminate it all the same before we go any further…"

"It's going to take me a while but I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Barry's still here do you want to speak to him?"

"Yeah, if he's got a few minutes," replied Morgan thinking that this would save him reporting the next day with an apology for being late.

Barry's voice suddenly filled the Morgan's head, "So how's things in Lompoc besides the destruction of an old garage?"

"We found a suspect device and the local Bomb Squad for the area came and made it safe…A good job because they saved the evidence for us but no prints or DNA have been found on the device. But I got to wondering about the targets…the unsubs had to have some local knowledge about the targets, especially that garage last night. It was on a regular list for checking by the Fire Brigade. I know the firemen themselves, and their immediate families, would have been checked anyway… But I was thinking about other family members like cousins or nephews…You know a little distant but still within visiting range and where an innocent enquiry like 'what you been doing this week?' would be thought of as normal. Well if its family its just being friendly whereas you might be more guarded with a stranger or even a neighbour," Morgan explained his thinking. But he also mentally noted that perhaps the neighbour idea might be worth pursuing aswell.

"Yeah, worth a check before looking further a field," agreed Barry.

"What are you doing there so late anyway?" Morgan asked his senior.

"Management meetings…Sometimes we have late evening ones because that's the only time busy schedules can come together…It's all the cutbacks, less people are still covering the same areas and usually that's more work than previously. You're not missing anything Morgan, in fact you're probably best out of it this week as Strauss is very stressed at the moment and sniping at everyone," he revealed.

"Jeez…I'm sorry to hear that," replied Morgan and he meant his words. He remembered Strauss coming with them when Gideon had originally failed to appear for the Milwaukee case and how J.J. and Reid had watched their footing around her very carefully. Morgan fleetingly wondered where Gideon had disappeared to but it all seemed a long time ago now when there was once an away team and a jet and a camaraderie that he missed. The financial cuts had definitely wreaked havoc at the BAU and Strauss was struggling to keep all the units under her staffed properly.

"Well at least I can come in a little later tomorrow morning to make up for this," Barry added, "Anyway, are you still enjoying the field trip?" Barry asked thinking that Morgan was sounding unusually sympathetic tonight.

"Yeah, you know me, I hate being tied to the office too long. It's a good department here and all the people I've dealt with so far have been very professional…The Fire Chief, he's called George Pierremont, has really good instincts. I think if he suspected one of his men he'd have said but sometimes you may not look beyond the most immediate… Well it was just one of those things I just wanted checked for my own peace of mind," said Morgan as tried to explain his present instructions for Taurro

Barry smiled at the words and was immediately reminded of Reid in his television interview about the kidnapping case…Reid said that he'd had certain ideas checked for his own peace of mind too and they had been more than useful. They were both good profilers in their own distinctive ways.

"Taurro knows what he's doing, we have him from the El Paso office where he felt that he was getting in a rut just working with the Mexican border problems and the drugs trade. He and his family fancied a change of scenery and Gavin has been enjoying the diversity of the clientele we deal with at the BAU!"

Morgan chuckled because he could hear the dry humour in Barry's voice. Barry was OK when he wasn't working with him confined to the office and Morgan knew that the clash of personality was the real problem. Barry was liked within the unit because he was a capable manager but Morgan hadn't liked him working within the away team when Reid had been on sick leave. Morgan found suddenly himself thinking back to that time and thought that perhaps he had not liked the easy relationship Barry had with Gideon. It had certainly altered the feel of the team and Morgan had not been happy with it, although J.J. was unfazed by it and Emily seemed to be able to get on with most people, or rather she compartmentalised so well that she didn't let things appear to rankle her. The tiny voice of his conscience told him that Barry had made Morgan feel insecure because he seemed to get on so well with both Hotch and Gideon. Also Morgan felt that his position, as next in line of seniority after Gideon, had been usurped by this older man.

Rueben King sat at his desk typing up his report and suddenly stopped to play the film taken as he had disarmed the device. It was crude, effective and there were sites on the internet where this knowledge could be tapped. The labs had told him that they had found no useful personal material and all the components were very ordinary and easily available from any hardware outlet. The police would have to find the workshop where it had been made to see if they could find similar materials, perhaps overalls and gasoline containers that were used for the other fires. Morgan thought they were young men and were motivated by the excitement of the arson. They had been careful not to harm anyone so far and King hoped that should these incidents continue that side of things would be the most striking feature. Pierremont had said that it was an odd thing, everyone in his department were beginning to get edgy about these fires and they hoped that they would stop soon as suddenly as they had started. However, King didn't like the feel of this and thought his team might be called in again.

Morgan crossed the street to his hotel. He was missing not having Angela in his bed but he'd make up for it once he was back home. His cell sounded and he looked at the tiny screen, not a call but a coded text message from an old friend…A warning but he'd no need to be careful this weekend because he was sure that he'd still be in Lompoc.

End of Chapter 18


	19. Chapter 19

**The Interregnum: Chapter 19**

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**Note: A very busy month with my husband unexpectantly having a thankfully brief stay in hospital and friends needing some TLC…I snatched time on the computer when I could and have finally typed up the next chapter!**

Spencer Reid rolled over and snuggled up to his wife. The whole evening had been a fantastic surprise with the tickets to earlier hear Paul O'Dette play the lute in Washington. The music was still replaying in his head as he now tried to wind down towards sleep. It had been a wonderful gift from Jeff who had been sent the tickets by a client as a thank you for the care that Fairfax Estates had taken with his apartment at very short notice. Jeff knew that Jo would love the concert and, as Spencer was working reasonable hours that week for a change, they were naturally the recipients of the generosity. Spencer had only to mention that he had the tickets for a concert at work and Katie immediately said that of course he had to go especially as he had clocked up a lot of hours and he and his Jo deserved the occasional special evening together.

It had been a full concert hall but during the interval he and Jo had gone to stretch their legs even if they had not wanted a drink of any kind. They had drifted towards the display of future concert flyers and were browsing when Spencer had turned on he hearing his name…

"Spencer, it's good to see you!" and there before him stood the athletic frame of Don Findall and beside him a woman with very fair short hair that was beginning to turn a silvery grey. She had a round face that emphasised her soft features along with enormous twinkling warm grey eyes. The soft warmth of the woman's appearance was further emphasised by the cerise wool dress she was wearing.

"Don…this is great! I can finally introduce you to Jo…Jo this is Don Findall and it's Debbie isn't it?" he beamed at the maternal woman who reminded him of Margaret Petersen. But another deeper part of Spencer also remembered how Don had suddenly had to leave the Clinic and the tabled session with him because Debbie had been taken ill with a coronary. The incident had made Max take a more active role in Spencer's recovery but it had all turned out for the best in the end. What really mattered for Spencer was that the relationships he had forged with the three psychs had been central to his recovery and for helping him to cope when he had initially returned to the BAU.

"I'm here because of you!" Debbie replied laughing in a gentle teasing manner.

"Really?" he replied incredulously but willingly entering the light banter.

"Yes, it was you that got Don into lute music…"

Spencer broadly grinned and remembered how Don had searched out a lute from the music collection at the Clinic after Spencer had told him about the fate of his violin and his mother's insistence that the lute was to be his instrument. Don had found the lute at just the right time and Spencer had needed and enjoyed the solace he had found within the instrument over the coming weeks that he remained in the Clinic.

" You know…I found him in my room with a lute that was badly in need of re-tuning…." countered Spencer and he was happy to share that part of the memory. But Debbie was sensitive enough not to ask further searching questions as she was well aware of the confidential nature of her husband's work.

The women were quickly chatting away and the men turned to each other for companionship.

"You'd think they'd known each other for years," whispered Don indulgently smiling towards his Debbie.

"Yeah, Jo just has that ease about her too. Are you enjoying the music?"

"Oh yes, I've several of his CDs and when Debbie pointed out that he was playing here I couldn't resist a live performance. Do you know the Bach he's playing after the interval?"

"Yeah, it's a piece I try to play myself and perfect to end a concert on."

"How's things in Maryland?"

"Different and intense but Katie's back after sick leave so I've had a week of normal office hours which has been a little strange really. When I started there I was sort of thrown into the deep end of the work very quickly and I just kept up with things but it's a good unit and everyone pulls together and works well. I've met some very interesting people there but, I must admit, we both miss living in Alexandria…I didn't realise how much of a Virginian I was until we moved into the house in Berwyn Heights. It's convenient for work but we both miss the community of Alexandria and of course its closer to Jo's family."

Don nodded and thought how well Dr. Reid was looking and very much the relaxed confident professional man. He was elegantly dressed in a beautifully tailored mid grey suit that was worn with a plain pale green shirt and co-ordinating green and charcoal grey striped silk tie. Don thought that Reid's hair was finally neatly styled correctly to give his face more broadness. The older man was sure that the agent now had a very good hairdresser because Reid's hair was short enough at the back to be within regulations but not too short elsewhere as that would have only served to emphasise the facial leanness and his long neck. No doubt the relationship with Jo had steadied him and she may have had some influence on his present style. Don Findall thought that it was good to see for himself just how mature and confident Dr. Reid was these days and above all, there was nothing artificial in Reid's genuine pleasure at seeing them this evening.

"Did you know that Arthur won the bet over you?" Don whispered unsure that Jo Reid would approve of the psych's behaviour.

"Yeah, I got it out of him over a quick lunch we snatched together recently. I must admit I'd not really planned things but it was how it played out and it just seemed so right … We didn't want to go through all the performance of a big wedding…neither of us are like that."

"No, but what matters is that you're both happy and that life is better together rather than being apart."

"Oh without doubt!" Spencer said emphatically and the two women turned towards him as they heard the statement. Jo looked his way quizzically and a dark eyebrow rose as the black eyes twinkled.

"I was just saying we didn't want an organised wedding," Spencer answered her unvoiced question.

"Oh goodness no! My brother had the big event but then Melinda was an only child, and her Mom wasn't well, so it was as much for her than my side of the family. My parents are just pleased we didn't elope to Las Vegas and a more tacky affair!"

Spencer grinned happily, "I think we hit the right note by accepting a family friend marrying us in your father's study!"

"Definitely and then little Lydia and Ben stole the show anyway and that was fine by us. You're not going to believe this but Debbie here knows Mom!" said Jo changing the subject.

Spencer's eyes opened even wider and sparkled with mischief and he couldn't resist, "Who doesn't know her?"

Jo chuckled, "Spencer! Debbie has become involved with the fund raising for the Memorial Hospital…"

"Ah! So cutting back on the nursing means you're doing more charity work," concluded the young Agent.

"I see you have instantly jumped to conclusions and yes I do seem to be kept busy but it's a different sort of work and not so emotionally draining as nursing. I think I needed my wake up call last year but I'm feeling fine now and the consultant is pleased with me."

Spencer smiled warmly at her and hoped that his partnership with Jo would be as deep and long lasting as this pair. It was interesting, he mused to himself, how Max, Don and Arthur all had very stable and long-standing marriages although he was no fool and knew it took effort to keep a partnership fresh and alive over the years. Danielle seemed happily married and Spencer felt that she would make a good unit leader one day. But Katie still concerned him because she seemed to be without such a stable relationship to relax with and take her away from her emotionally demanding work. Spencer was thankful that Jo had agreed to stay with him when he got moved to College Park because knowing that she was usually there made it far easier to close the door on the disturbing cases that the CACU dealt with.

The chimes sounded signalling the audience to return to their seats but both couples parted taking the feeling of a warm glow of friendship as they went back to their part of the auditorium. It did not surprise Spencer that on the way home Jo had said that she'd probably be seeing Debbie again soon as her Mom had roped her in, as usual, for designing the publicity for the coming Charity Auction. Then there would be the 'dinner' afterwards for the charity workers that Margaret held back at home and again Melinda and Jo seemed automatically part of the cooking team for the event.

Spencer smiled to himself as he felt sleep finally edging his way; Margaret was so like the mother he'd always wanted. Professor Diana Reid had been brilliant in her academic field but sadly not the best of mothers and her illness just compounded her own feelings of being torn between the excitement of her teaching and research and being a mother. Spencer was very aware that she had never been like the other mothers at the school gates but nothing could change the events of those early years. Spencer Reid had not been a normal child either but he still sometimes wished that his mother had been as maternal as Mrs. Bishop or Margaret, but then perhaps the ravages of her illness would have been even more destructive for the younger Spencer to witness. As a child, Spencer had grown use to his mother's expectations of him and tried to smoothly adjust to them to avoid conflict. He sighed deeply and hugged Jo a little closer. Spencer was well aware that he had deliberately chosen a maternal woman with a stable background…he only wanted the best for his children if they should ever have them.

A new day and Derek Morgan felt refreshed and ready for working up a profile with the material gathered from the recent fire incidents. He read through all the reports and lingered on the one from King and the labs over the incident at the old bus station. Morgan thought how carefully the Bomb Squad had preserved the material and he felt that he would have to praise their professional work to their Unit Chief. It was as expected; all very easily obtained materials and no DNA or fingerprints.

The garage fire had been so fierce that evidence had been destroyed in the heat but they could make some intelligent guesses as to how it at been started. Examination of the site, when things had cooled down, revealed that one of the capped refuelling valves had been tampered with and the general opinion was that a detonating device had been carefully lowered into the vastness of the underground tank. It would have been a tricky procedure to lower something…it could have detonated too early. Pierremont's report suggested a cell phone type detonator. He believed that any arcing across wires in that tank full of gasoline vapours and residue fuel would have probably provided enough of a spark to ignite it all. The effect had certainly been dramatic and a call to the phone suspended in the tank could have been done at any safe distance.

The forensics team was still sifting through the material and Morgan wondered if they would find any minute evidence that might support this theory but the forensics procedure for the whole crime scene was 'snail paced' in its thoroughness. A cell phone detonation would have been the safest way to cause the explosion but they also had a time line because the old garage had been checked on December 23rd. However, if they were correct about the point of access then that had been in the arsonists favour aswell because the light was poor down the side of the old building. The area was waiting to be bull dozed for re-development and the buildings either side of the garage were ruins. The whole site provided plenty of hiding places for anyone not wanting to be seen.

Morgan turned to the police reports of drug activity in the area; they confirmed his instincts and syringes had been found in the derelict buildings and at the back of the garage itself. He wondered if any addicts had seen anything or would it be a case of miscreants each turning a blind eye to what was happening as long as they kept a respectful distance. The local cops would know the people to ask but they could have been so out of it after shooting up that they probably wouldn't be able to help with a description anyway but it was worth a try.

Taurro hadn't got back to him yet but Barry seemed to think that he was very thorough at his job and Morgan thought it best not to harass the analyst. Barry had revealed that Taurro was an ex-agent who had been shot in both legs and had to leave active fieldwork. The former agent had then chosen to retrain within the Bureau to do analyst work. Barry felt that they were lucky to have Taurro assigned to their unit for a few months experience because he suspected he would probably be sent to a unit dealing with serious crimes that were gang or drug related. Barry particularly thought that the DEA would be very interested in Taurro if he coped with his probationary period as an analyst because of his street-wise experience.

Morgan's eyes settled on the map of Lompoc and its environs. There were bright yellow topped pins placed at the sites of the camp fires through the summer and then the 'buildings' had been marked with two different colours: green topped pins for accelerant and possible fuses and the red ones for more sophisticated delay devices. The sites were very scattered and there was no apparent geographical cluster pattern. Morgan felt that the camp fires had been started well away from people because the unsub, or unsubs, had not wanted them to be noticed. If he was correct, then that implied a deliberate planning to practice techniques and procedures if two unsubs were working together, which seemed more likely once the fires started to affect buildings.

Everything about the careful planning indicated a level of above average intelligence of at least one of the unsubs because of ordinary materials used, that would make the forensics more difficult, and the carefully chosen targets. The agent suspected that there was also a closeness because the more dominant unsub allowed the other to have the less sophisticated fires aswell, as if he valued the cruder fire-making as much as his own more demanding style. Or, he admitted to himself, he may have got it all wrong and the less intelligent unsub was the dominant one of the partnership and allowed the quieter intelligent unsub to set his more sophisticated devices…

Morgan thought more deeply about the idea of a 'partnership' and wondered if they were brothers or very close friends. The Agent didn't think the unsubs were necessarily known to the police because Luis had been careful to apply the techniques he had learnt about during his sessions at Quantico. Arsonists were often known to the police because they had records of committing minor 'nuisance' infringements of the law, but somehow these arson suspects were not standing out on a LEO's radar. Morgan wondered if they had moved into the area recently, or were deliberately travelling to the area, and that might explain why they were unknown to the local police.

Derek Morgan was beginning to go round in circles but he was convinced that Rodney Luis wouldn't have called the BAU unless his own instincts told him that something was wrong despite going through the usual procedures to identify suspects. So far the public had seen nothing but they also had not been harmed so these fires were of a typical 'excitement' profile. However, the fires were getting more adventurous so in that sense they were escalating and there was no guarantee against some innocent bystander getting killed in the future.

The films taken of the on-lookers at the crime scenes, both during the incident and once the fires were out and in the 'forensic sifting' stage, had not been helpful. It was a natural reaction to be drawn to the primitive spectacle of a blaze and to watch the Fire Department work. There was a thrill factor in watching a blaze but also the re-assurance of the Firemen and their expertise in regaining control. Man still liked to think he was the master of all in his environment but sadly nature could be equally successful in reminding modern man that they were naïve about the raw destructiveness that still existed beyond man's control.

Derek Morgan leaned back in the chair and fingered his ballpoint pen as he mulled over the facts and theories.

"Penny for them!" remarked Luis as he came to stand by his desk.

"I was just reviewing what we have and I was hoping the tech analyst back at Quantico will hit gold to give us a real break. I don't like this…I feel we've been very lucky so far in not having anyone hurt. But the forensic evidence has not been that helpful...It would have been nice to have some DNA or a fingerprint, even if they were not in the system, because it could still help to build a case. Its just that what we do have is so ordinary…gasoline, rags, perhaps the remains of a suspect device with that old clock in the farm shop fire. Even the most recent device, dealt with by the Bomb Squad, that timer could have been bought from any hardware outlet because it was a basic plug device that had been adapted to work with a battery. Then there's the gunpowder…a grade often used for fireworks so again easily bought. We need a big break, Captain," said Morgan with a sigh, "Like names and addresses so we can search for similar materials on the premises, although any suspect might have a legitimate explanation for things in their possession. You know… just think how many of us have the fireworks for the coming party, candles in case of a blackout or a plug-in timer to use as a decoy to give the impression that someone is at home while we're away."

Captain Luis nodded in agreement, "Yes, " he said softly, "It's why I'm glad you're here because I think you see things far better as the outsider in this community. I've been living and working in this place too long and may not be seeing all the little clues for this case. At least so far no one has been hurt and the precious Lompoc murals haven't been affected."

"Arsonists are not the easiest of offenders to catch," Morgan sympathised but he had a deep respect for this man who he judged to be very thorough in his work and Morgan couldn't fault how the Captain had approached this case.

"You still think its young men?" Luis asked wondering if the time spent going over all the film footage of the crowds had altered the agent's preliminary thoughts.

"Yeah, arsonists are usually men although a few women arsonists have been caught they are by far outnumbered by the men. No…this just has the feel of youth experimenting and liking the thrill…" Morgan replied and both men were silent for a few seconds mulling over the whole case in their minds and then suddenly Captain Luis broke the pensive moment.

"I wondered if you wanted to come to dinner tonight…Janet's making a steak and mushroom pie and I can recommend it with all the bias I have for my wife's cooking," he said and grinned at the thought of the food.

"That's very kind of you, I'll not turn down home cooking…and Janet is some cook!" replied Morgan with genuine enthusiasm.

Morgan's cell suddenly burst into action and the agent smoothly checked the display. His heart beat with anticipation as he noted that the call was identified as the BAU tech resources office.

"Taurro…make my day!" he invited enthusiastically.

"I may just do that, Agent Morgan," the voice from the tiny phone replied, "I've been following up lines of interest since we spoke last night and I've stayed on this morning to pursue a promising lead…"

"Please tell me you have a name? I'm going to put you on the speaker so the Captain can hear this too," Derek said and looked at Luis who seemed rooted to the spot. Both men were bound by the same silent wish that this was the break they needed, "OK you can enlighten us now…"

"Lauren Dacy is the sister of Keiron Bass, a fireman of 11 years with the Lompoc Fire Department. She has five children; three young daughters,aged 6,8 and 9, and twin teenage sons, Adam and Russell. They have recently all moved to Lompoc, last June in fact, following her divorce. Lauren Dacy and her children are sharing her mother's home, which is also near to her brother's house. Lauren Dacy has been suffering from depression since the break up of her marriage and the husband has done a runner and is not paying maintenance so this is all adding to the distress in the family.

Now the boys have been getting into trouble since Dad left and this seems to have been getting more out of control as their mother just couldn't cope as the depression took hold. They'd been living in Tucson, Arizona, until 8 months ago but the boys began to play truant and getting into mischief by upsetting the neighbours with their loud music and swearing, if the neighbours complained, and generally beginning to run around with the wrong crowd. The local police and school counsellor were trying to get the mother into a more structured programme of care but she got scared that the social services might take her younger children from her. This is when the family stepped in and Granny brought her daughter and all the children to her home in Lompoc. The boys are 17 and registered at the Greenleys High School while the girls are at the St Peter's Parochial School. Lauren Dacy is under the care of the local hospital for her depression and has recently been admitted…Granny is now coping with the grandchildren and it was Uncle and Granny who recently attended a parental interview for the boys work at the High School. Hope you didn't mind me doing the extra ringing round but I was trying to save you wasting time chasing what might have been a poor lead," explained Gavin Taurro to justify the level of his delving.

"No not at all, Barry did say you were invalided out of the field and re-trained and this sounds all good …During your initial checking, did the school let on anything more about them?"

"Only that Adam is considerably brighter than his brother. They are regularly attending and doing their school work adequately and appear quite pleasant at school compared with some of their peer group. Basically they have not caused any problems but their Uncle and Granny had been very honest with the school about the effect of the break up of their parent's marriage on the twins and how they had begun to go off the rails. However, the school felt that bringing them back into the bosom of the family again had stabilised them despite the mother being taken into hospital. The boys don't seem to have told their peers about their mother's illness but the counsellor thought this was natural because depression is still widely misunderstood. The school counsellor felt that this probably accounted for the twins appearing to be reluctant to mix with their classmates although the rest of the year group seems to leave them alone and not to antagonise them."

"This sounds very promising…anything else?" asked Morgan who was exchanging looks with Luis who was listening intently.

"No, I have checked out the other firemen but there was nothing as promising as this, especially as its an arsonist case…"

"Yeah…the anti-social misdemeanours…a common factor in the ones that are caught," answered Morgan and Luis nodded in agreement. The Captain wondered why their Police Department had not pursued such line of enquiry that delved into the fire fighters' wider families but then they trusted Pierremont to know his people. Keiron Bass was not the sort of person to draw suspicion because he was known to several officers of the Police Department due to his long service and expertise in his work and was basically well liked.

"Deserves looking into…Thanks Taurro for all the over-time you've done for me on this…I really appreciate it as we all feel things are hotting up here!" replied Morgan and then realised the unconscious choice of words and cringed inside.

"Do you want to tell George?" Morgan asked the Captain as they headed for the door.

"No, lets go and check out the address. The family is a decent one that has not been any trouble so I think we may get entry without a search warrant," Luis said and Morgan realised that the Captain was deliberately going to take a low-key approach in his unmarked car so as not to draw attention to the family.

As they got into his car Luis said, "George checked out his own people and this man has an unblemished record… It's just unfortunate that the fireman's nephews may have gone off the rails due to circumstances beyond their control."

Morgan nodded, it was a hopeful lead but he now had to stand back and let Luis show how good a policeman he was in his own city. They were soon in a neat neighbourhood of blue-collar housing, not an expensive area but a decent one with few social problems compared with many cities. The Captain parked his car outside the neat little house and took the lead.

The front door was opened, within a few seconds of ringing the bell, by a tall thin woman with iron grey hair who looked to be in her late sixties. She was dressed in a cheap looking black skirt that fell just below her knees and a worn looking pale blue jumper. Brown eyes stared out at them from a care-worn face.

"Mrs. Bass?" Luis gently asked.

"Yes," the woman replied and scrutinised her visitors.

"I'm Captain Rodney Luis of the Lompoc P.D. and this is Special Supervisory Agent Derek Morgan of the Behavioural Analyst Unit of the F.B.I."

The woman's brown eyes widened in surprise as Luis discreetly showed her his ID and Morgan followed suit in an equally under-stated way.

"The twins all right?" she whispered.

"As far as we know nothing untoward has happened to them, Mrs Bass," Luis re-assured, "And their mother is still under the care of the local hospital," he added.

Morgan saw the woman visibly sigh with relief as she had obviously thought their appearance had implied that harm of some kind had descended upon these family members.

"Mrs. Bass, we would like to speak to the twins if they are in?" Captain Luis continued in his quiet unthreatening manner.

"No they went out…But why do you want to speak to them…The neighbours wouldn't be able to hear their music here?"

"Why not?" asked Luis intrigued by her reaction.

"'Cos my late husband had the cellar sound proofed when their uncle had his rock band…He was about their age and into drumming and Keiron and his friends used to come here and play to their hearts content and it kept them out of trouble. I told the twins that when they came to live with me that they could use the cellar as a den just like their Uncle Keiron had done at their age…But I still don't understand why you want to speak with my grandsons?" Mrs. Bass suddenly asked her instincts aware that there was more to this visit.

"Mrs. Bass, we would like to speak to the boys about the recent spate of fires we've had in the city…"Luis began and the woman gasped at the implications of the statement.

"Oh God…You know my Keiron…he's a fireman…been one for …well must be over ten years and some…Oh God!" she whispered in horror and she felt her knees begin to buckle.

Luis quickly gently reached forward to stop her from falling.

"Mrs. Bass shall we go inside and we'll explain what we think has happened…" suggested Captain Luis solicitously.

Morgan watched as the experienced policeman assisted the woman back into her home and softly talked about how none of the fires could have been prevented by her and that she had been the very caring and thoughtful Grandmother who had treated the teenagers with respect. Likewise her son would not be blamed in anyway for any actions the twins had taken…if indeed they had been involved in setting the fires. At that moment they just wanted to talk to them.

They sat together in the front room and Morgan was reminded of his own home back in Chicago where his hard-working mother had kept the family together despite the loss of her much loved husband. The house looked clean and had that lived in tidiness that gave the place the air of a real family home. There were family photographs scattered about in cheap frames but they were treasured memories behind those captured images. The chair cushions were a little worn and crumpled but the seats were comfortable. There was a television that was easily 5 years old from its style and separate DVD and video players on the corner unit beneath the television. This was no state of the art wall mounted flat screen television or blu-ray technology in this house but functional equipment for a hard working family.

Morgan continued to scan around the room as Luis explained matters to the woman. His eyes fell upon the small bookcase that contained paperback adult romances and children's authors in large print paperbacks for the newly competent reader along with the large picture books to share with an adult. On the shelf, under the coffee table, were three boxed games to play as a family and four jigsaw puzzles ranging from 50 parts to one of 200 pieces. In another corner there was a small dolls house and beside it a square red plastic storage box containing an assortment of dolls, soft animals and teddies. The whole effect made Morgan feel very sorry for this woman who had obviously been doing all the right things for her daughter and her grandchildren. Morgan's scrutiny was halted when he became aware of the tired female voice opposite him.

"So you would really like to take a look downstairs?" she stated in a resigned voice.

"Mrs. Bass, you have every right to insist upon a warrant but I was trying to do this quietly so as not to draw attention to this house. We could be wrong but, like I explained, the twins have been through a traumatic time recently and their distress has been seen in their recent behaviour. You and your son have done nothing wrong, in fact you have been doing all the caring things a family would do to try and help, but you said that you don't go down in the cellar and they did enjoy exploring the area on their bikes during the summer. We may be totally wrong but we would not be doing our duty if we didn't check this out…" Luis said patiently and Morgan noted how careful he was to not force his way but gave Mrs. Bass every opportunity to ask for a warrant.

Suddenly the woman rose and looked defeated in the way her body seemed to slump down but then she drew herself up as if regaining her own personal dignity.

"I understand, Captain, and I'm grateful for the fact you didn't come here in a normal police car…You know what neighbourhoods are like for gossip…"

Luis nodded and remained seated alongside Morgan on the sofa.

"I'd like to go down with you but I don't know what you'll find," she added softly.

"If you could just stay watching by the door while we check the cellar, is that all right?" Luis again patiently asked trying to keep this woman on their side.

"Yeah, I've never been in this situation before," she said and looked a little bewildered in her own home.

"We know, you are a good family and we didn't just want to barge in, Mrs. Bass. You know the Lompoc P.D. likes to think that we are good at keeping the community on our side when we have to investigate crime…. That's why I thought a personal visit to you to explain the situation was the best approach in this case."

Mrs. Bass nodded but an air of sadness seemed to now clothe her.

"Well…you gentlemen had best come this way. The boys said that they would be going to the library after school to do their homework before the weekend. It's a half-day today because of a special 'staff training session' for the new computer system they've just had installed…It should have all been finished before the new term started but there were delays with the company that were contracted to install it…"

The two men rose and followed the thin figure towards the inner lobby and took from their pockets the plastic gloves they would use so as not to contaminate the room. They kept behind her all the way down the stairs to the closed door where she stopped and took a moment as if to compose herself before turning to face the men once more.

"I'll stay here," she whispered and Morgan thought that this was an innocent and caring good woman who had been caught up in events beyond her control.

Luis stepped forward and turned the chrome handle and pushed the lemon painted door open in a smooth movement and then reached to the right for the light switch. They walked into a large room that was covered in thick soundproofing tiles on the walls and ceiling that had long lost their once pristine white colour and now looked greyish with age. To one wall was a dated stereo system, that looked even older than the television upstairs, and a few CDs were scattered about nearby but the majority were stacked on old shelving. On the same shelving they could see a couple of 'Nintendo' handsets and a stack of games.

There was an old sofa with a bright multi striped blanket draped over it to hide the obviously worn original surface. On an old white painted rectangular table, that might once have stood in a kitchen, were several magazines concerning cars, baseball and motor bikes. Various posters of Heavy Metal groups graced the walls but the men quickly dismissed these details because their attention was caught by the work bench at the far end of the room. As they stepped closer they could see that under it were five large heavy plastic gasoline containers with screw caps. These were the sort a motorist might have if on a long trip and thought he might run out of gas en route or a gardener might fetch his gasoline for the motor mower. At the other end of the bench, but again on the floor, was a large cardboard box. Morgan reached over a gloved hand to pull the box out so they could see the contents. The two men looked at each other, no words were necessary when they saw the assortment of plug-in timers, various reels of different widths of heavy duty tape, batteries and wire.

Morgan's eyes caught sight of another rectangular cardboard box pushed back up against the wall on the workbench and reached across to look what it contained. He was not surprised when he found large fireworks; some had the end cut off and had been emptied of the explosive powder. The Agent reached into the box and carefully removed a white plastic tub, the kind that had once held emollient cream for dry skins. But carefully removing the top, Morgan saw no cream only loose gunpowder.

Luis nodded in understanding and whispered, "You gonna call in for the forensics team while I explain matters to Mrs. Bass?"

Morgan nodded and reached for his cell while Luis turned his attention on the waiting woman.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Bass, but it would be best if you went to your son's house, or to a trusted friend, while forensics come and record and remove some of the things we have found. Would you like me to make a call to the Fire Chief…he'll tell your Keiron what has happened?"

"Oh God, I've got to collect the girls …They're at an after school club held at St. Peter's school…" she suddenly blurted out as she remembered the granddaughters as her normal world began to take on a distorted quality.

"Let me make some calls and I'll take you to collect them and we can take you all on to your son's home…Will his wife be there?"

"No, Ellen's on her hospital shift until ten…"

"Come and sit down for a few minutes and we'll try and find the boys…They were going to the library did you say?"

Mrs. Bass nodded her heart thumping so hard in her chest that she couldn't speak as the enormity of the situation began to take hold of her. Wild thoughts began the clamour for attention in her pounding head along with numerous questions…What would the neighbour's think of her? Where were Adam and Russell? Why had she trusted them? Poor Lauren she had trusted her to take care of the children and she had failed…What would Keiron do? What would his work-mates think of him? Would they still trust him to work as a fire-fighter?

Iris Bass felt sick with worry about the turn of events. Keiron enjoyed his work and was proud of the extra qualifications he was working for to help him gain promotion. Was all of Keiron's hard work now put in jeopardy because of the twins? Should she have been more careful? …But she had trusted them like she'd trusted her own son and Keiron had been a good boy….

George Pierremont couldn't believe the turn of events. Keiron Bass was one of his most reliable men and he had encouraged him to study in his spare time to gain further qualifications for the job. Bass had looked aghast as Pierremont had explained the situation and that he was now going to drive Bass home so that his Mom and nieces had somewhere to stay while a forensics team did their work in the basement den. Keiron Bass was silent for most of the drive but nearing his house he turned to his superior and asked him if he wanted his resignation.

"No I don't want you to resign, you've done nothing wrong! We all talk about what we've been upto in vague terms when we're home…its only natural. But you were not to know that the twins were experimenting with fire…You've all been worried about Lauren's health and your Mom did the right thing to bring them all home but none of you are to blame. You're a good fireman and I don't want to loose you…I'm going to tell the rest of the guys, with your permission, the outline of this situation but I think most of them know about Lauren don't they?"

"Yeah…They know about how she's come back home with severe depression and that bastard ex going off and not even paying maintenance…We thought the kids were all right and doing good…You know… that they were settling in well at their new schools. The teaching staff and counsellor at Greenleys were very supportive and thought the twins were no problem…Honestly, George, if I'd have known… I'd have taken them to the police myself!"

"Yeah, I believe you and Luis knows that…He did things real low-key with that Agent…They don't blame you and I still want you in my department but right now your Mom needs your support because its been quite a shock for her this afternoon."

Keiron Bass stared out ahead and recognised Captain Luis's car in front of his house. His Mom had a spare key so they were obviously inside but he wondered if they had talked to the twins yet…

Five hours later, Derek Morgan sat with Rodney and Janet Luis at their kitchen table enjoying the informal dinner.

"Poor woman, Iris Bass is a good sort," said Janet as she handed Derek a large portion of plum crumble, "Help yourself to cream, Derek."

"Thank you," he replied as he accepted the dish and enjoyed the common sense that he'd heard around the table this evening.

"George was solidly behind Keiron Bass and came in to talk to Mrs. Bass. He assured her that they just wanted to stop the fires and said that the twins needed help," Rodney Luis explained to his wife, "Trouble is the boys had already left the library by the time the unit got there. They may have recognised my car outside their Gran's house and decided that they were rumbled. We found that they had emptied their savings accounts last October and they were on their bikes and possibly had a getaway plan just in case we got suspicious. They didn't go back to the house while we were there so they probably had a hideout for the 'getaway bag' and money. Mrs Bass said that the twins had been earning money cutting people's lawns and had made several hundred dollars over the months, particularly during the summer. They had told her that they were saving towards college but the work also gave them a legitimate excuse for buying gasoline and of course the fireworks had been for July 4th! We checked the bus station but they don't seem to have taken a bus out anywhere."

"You think they cycled to the rail station and picked up the train and headed off to Santa Barbara?" Janet asked her husband as she handed him his ample dish of crumble.

"Possibly, there was a train through at Surf Station that they might have just have caught soon after 3 o'clock this afternoon. They were fit youths and could have cycled there quite easily and they could take their bikes on the train and its not that busy this time of year so they wouldn't need a reservation. We just seem to have been one step behind them and they did a runner and got away. Of course, they might go back to known haunts around Tucson but I think Adam is clever enough to go somewhere new and Russell would tag along accepting that Adam is the brains," continued Luis still feeling some frustration about not catching the twins.

"'Course they could have split up and arranged a place to meet up later… So far we have concentrated on thinking that they were travelling together but they could just have gone in different directions and kept in contact with cell phones," the Agent added.

Luis nodded and concentrated on eating but Janet, who was carefully watching her weight, was not having crumble and was still thinking about the fate of the twins.

"But can't you trace cell phones if you know the number?"

Morgan stopped to reply with his spoon poised in mid air,

"Janet, we think they used some of their money to buy new 'pay as you go' cells because the ones their Mom had bought them were found tossed in a garden a couple of blocks from their home. The lady who lives there found them and thought that some older boys may have been tormenting younger ones and took their phones off them…There had been a couple of such bullying incidents before Christmas," Morgan explained.

Janet nodded remembering that she had heard about the incidents during coffee following a church service the previous month.

"Oh boy, they really had thought things through right down to an escape plan then… Oh dear, that will make Iris feel even more guilty about trusting them under her roof," remarked Janet who was beginning to build a picture of Adam, with the cunning mind, perhaps leading his less able brother astray.

As the hours had passed, and the twins didn't make an appearance, the police felt that they had identified the arsonists. However, by the time the Lompoc P.D. had checked the boys' likely local haunts, and then concluded that they had used the train, they were already well away. The train journey was only around 80 minutes to Santa Barbara but the CCTV at the Surf Station was faulty so they had no evidence from this unmanned station that they had even been there. Before Luis and Morgan had left the Police Headquarters there had been no reply from their request to Santa Barbara to check their station and train cameras for the two teenagers. Luis had sent them the twins' details after they couldn't be found in Lompoc. The twins' photographs and details had also been sent to other Californian counties that were accessible by train aswell as to their former home of Tucson.

The Captain continued to puzzle about the twins and thought that perhaps Morgan was correct to think that they would go somewhere totally new. The United States was a big country and Santa Barbara may have been just a starting point to disappear into a bigger unknown canvass but they may not even have gone that way. Adam and Russell also had youth on their side; the ageing process would change them quickly especially with the hardships of having to live by more menial jobs, and probably their wits, from now on.

The next morning, Luis and Morgan met up at the Police Headquarters to look over the preliminary forensic reports concerning the basement den. It was no surprise that so far it all seemed to confirm their suspicions.

"I wish we had caught them," Luis confessed to the Agent, "I still feel uneasy about all of this."

Morgan nodded as he sipped his coffee, "Yeah…there were a lot of bits and pieces that could be used for arson but no indication of their chosen targets…no maps, or photographs. But Adam was into experimenting with timers so we could still have a timed device go off and trigger another blaze…just anywhere in Lompoc."

Luis nodded and felt his gut tighten at the thought. They had been very lucky so far with no deaths but the city had potentially other possible target buildings, based on the previous target profiles, and all would need to be checked.

"Perhaps you could get some help from the Vandenberg base…You know they might be able to release some men for searching various buildings in the city…If we made a list and think about how these boys worked. They chose places that were derelict or empty and where people were at a distance. They'd obviously listened to things their uncle said about the problem sites the Fire Department checked like the old garage and the bus station…They were both checked before Christmas so where else was on the check list?" Morgan asked.

"George was already going over that list again after the garage fire and that's how we picked up on the old bus station device. I don't know how many sites he checks on a regular basis but we ought to call him," replied Luis and he mentally scolded himself for not ringing George that morning to join them in this review of the case.

The Captain reached for the phone and was quickly talking to the Fire Chief and he put it on speaker so Morgan could participate.

"We check a good 20 sites, along with the usual hydrants, throughout the year on a regular basis. After the garage fire I had just the small team of four men checking because I had to keep a full compliment on standby should we have an emergency. They had checked three sites before they found the device that the Bomb Squad dealt with but I then had to call them back to base because we had a couple of bad accidents on the highway and the Santa Barbara road. Do you think I ought to continue the checking of the usual sites?" the voice asked from the speaker.

"That's our present thinking…just to make sure in case they'd set more devices knowing that they wouldn't be found for a few days…" replied Luis.

"That will take some time, Rod, we are not that big a department and we do have to cover the city. I usually use some of the 'overtime' allocation to do these checks and was eating into that money again when we picked up on the bus station device…Do you think City Hall will grant us some more money from the Emergency Contingency Fund to pay the over time needed? You see I do these checks usually on a rota system throughout the year and I spread out the overtime amongst the men so that it's as fair as possible. But this has got to be done quickly and I don't think I've enough people, even if I put myself out there in the field. You need at least two people checking each site thoroughly and it will take time…In fact, I usually send four and each man has a particular area to check at a site."

"Morgan wondered if the Air Force base might help with some men…they do have their own trained firemen on the base for emergencies …But I wanted your imput before I contacted them…"

"Sounds like a good idea. I appreciate you asking me but I'm not that territorial of my little empire when public safety is concerned. If the Base Commander would help with people then I'm willing to brief them on sites to check," George's voice filled the room and Morgan was once more impressed with the sound working relationship that these two city departments had with each other.

Morgan rang Barry to inform him of the latest developments while Captain Luis called the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Within an hour, the Fire Chief was briefing ten men who had been sent from the base and twelve of his own people volunteered to do extra shifts even if the overtime payment had not been guaranteed by City Hall. Morgan offered his own experience and George willingly accepted his expertise in the area. The teams set off on their assignments; the Air Force personnel were mixed with the Firemen so that they could be briefed about each specific site they were allocated to search on the way. Morgan was with a team of one Lompoc fireman, of 10 years experience, and two Air Force firemen each with nearly 15 years experience that included checking for suspect devices as part of base security. They gelled quickly by the common urgency of the task in hand and felt their present work was justified when they were informed that another team had already found a suspect device that the Bomb Squad were on their way to deal with. By the end of the day, all the sites they usually checked in the pre- Christmas inspection had been covered and two devices found and made safe.

The only worry at the back of their minds was that the twins might have chosen a site, or sites, that they had not checked. The Police and Fire Departments were trying to be optimistic and they hoped that they had found all the timed devices but the next few weeks were going to be tense due to the underlying fear that they may have missed something.

Later, towards midnight, Morgan lay in his hotel bed and thought about his stay in this community. He had enjoyed the challenge of the case and working out in the field on his own; it reminded him of how self sufficient he had been when he did undercover work in the past. Derek had been in touch with Barry and had now been ordered home to base because he had completed his task. In one sense it annoyed Morgan that they had not caught the twins but he did at least believe that they had identified the arsonists.

Morgan had earlier rung Angela and told her he'd be back the next day and he felt a quiet satisfaction as he briefly told her about how the case had progressed. Arsonists were difficult unsubs to catch so in many respects this case had been solved, but the Lompoc people were more annoyed with themselves for not suspecting that the twins would have an escape plan. However, everyone seemed to have under-estimated the young twins from their family through to the school teachers and school counsellor, who was annoyed with himself because he had not picked up that anything was wrong.

It was obvious to Morgan that the father leaving and the mother's resulting depression had acted as the stressor for the twins' behaviour. Perhaps if the mother had been stronger…but Morgan's inner voice stopped that train of thought...It had happened and nothing could undo the events just like his own father's violent death could not be undone nor his own mother's reaction to it. Derek Morgan had reacted badly to losing his father and had begun to mix with the local gangs, on the periphery to begin with, but his Mom had not been able to pull him away from that culture that he was drifting into. Then Buford had entered his life and that had given him a new direction but had also taken him into other dangers and his own form of self-loathing. Derek Morgan mentally slammed shut the door on those memories. He didn't want to go into that dark maze of his buried memories and deliberately turned to more recent pleasanter events.

Luis and Pierremont had been a pleasure to work with and he admitted to himself that Barry was a good judge of character. Even seeing his old adversary, Rueben King, from the Bomb Squad had not been as tense as he might once have imagined such a confrontation. Perhaps they had both mellowed over the years but equally it could also be argued that he, Derek Morgan, had changed. Then there was the new analyst guy, Gavin Taurro, who had really done the background work when he followed his instincts and delved into the Dacy family. Morgan had told Barry earlier that evening how Taurro's work had provided the break they had needed and Barry said that he would put that in his own report on the analyst's work.

Morgan rolled onto his side and thought about how his sessions with Erroll Hart had gone home and far deeper than he had initially realised. He was soon to be married…and he certainly had never expected to find such a sweet and loyal woman as Angela and from such a good background. But Morgan also thought about his relationships with his colleagues; he could be a pain in the ass with his need for action but they somehow tolerated him far better than Morgan coped with his colleagues when he felt frustrated and hemmed in. He envied Emily's ability to buckle down to the task in hand and still have a good relationship with people around her and not let the petty restrictions affect her like they irked himself. Morgan missed Penelope Garcia's friendship but she had definitely distanced herself since he'd almost got her sacked and he really couldn't blame her. Morgan hoped that Gavin Taurro would be around when he was next in the BAU because he wanted to meet the man and thank him personally for the extra work he had put in on the case.

The Agent's thoughts suddenly turned in another direction and dwelt upon the changes in the running of the BAU. He was beginning to really appreciate the steadiness of Hotch who had been be such a taskmaster but he had also been an excellent leader of the Unit. Derek Morgan conceded to himself that he had even come to appreciate Barry, although he'd never admit to his face. Barry was just as much a manager of people as Hotch and he certainly knew the strengths and weaknesses of everyone who was left in the BAU. He wondered what had happened to Gideon. No one ever mentioned the former Agent at Quantico these days but Morgan hoped the difficult, often moody, man had found some peace after all the events of last year. Derek Morgan sighed and willed himself to rest.

A long way away in Maryland, Katie Cole was just about to leave her office after a long and busy day when her cell phone suddenly burst into life. Katie stopped her approach to the door and reached in her coat pocket for her cell. She knew that number and her senses were suddenly on full alert.

"Good evening Nigel," she said softly into the small handset.

"I'm in," the deep male voice tersely said and Katie's whole being felt as if she was fizzing like a Roman Candle firework with the excitement created by the possibilities of those two words…..

End of Chapter 19.


	20. Chapter 20

**The Interregnum: Chapter 20**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter** 1

Katie knew that she could do no more until tomorrow but the call from Nigel was the signal that the organisation of underage venues were beginning once more after the arrests in December. The arrests had shaken the organisation and the suspect website had been slightly altered in the New Year and now Spencer believed the 'special offer' was the entry portal for both the 'key' and password. Their genius was hoping that the configuration of the New England photographs,stored on a flash drive memory stick or small external hard drive, and passwords had not changed but he was waiting for Nigel to be supplied with these by his contact.

She drove home with a feeling of satisfaction that their patience was beginning to show dividends. Katie had been concerned, while she was away being treated for her drinking problem, that Danielle and Spencer wouldn't keep the watching and waiting brief. However, it had all been her own paranoia about not being in constant control of the day to day management of the unit. Katie was once more on an even keel and knew that she had two of the most capable agents acting as her deputies and they had dealt with matters and cases that arose in a deft and professional manner during her absence.

Katie walked into her living room slipping her oatmeal wool coat off as she went and then unceremoniously kicked off her shoes. She had worn kitten heels with a black tailored suit today because she was not expected out in the field due to the various finance and staff review meetings that filled her diary. Katie always liked to wear a smart skirt and jacket suit for staff reviews. She was quite informal for the day to day running of the CACU but when she had staff interviews she liked to look the part of the manager of the team. These individual personal assessments were a formal matter and could affect an agent's career so she was never casual in her approach to them. As the manager, she knew that her hand picked team was as good as it was going to get and they were all working extremely well despite the pressures that the work inevitably threw their way.

Katie had told Adam, over a coffee before he went home that evening, that she didn't have any real problems with her staff other than she would like a few more agents on the team but she knew that this was always at the top of her wish list. Adam had smiled and said that her department had been extremely lucky because it had been ring-fenced in the recent financial cuts. Katie was well aware of this but now more than ever she was grateful that she had managed to get Spencer Reid assigned to her unit.

Katie peered into her fridge, she was sure that there was some salmon in there that she'd bought yesterday but an unexpected dinner date with Philip had altered her plans. Still it had been a lovely meal and a pleasant evening with the oncologist and they shared some lovely memories of his late wife. It was so sad that his expertise had failed to save his own wife of 23 years and even now, 2 years after Eve's death, it obviously still wounded him. But Katie had been a long-standing friend of both of them and she didn't mind sharing the memories that united their lives.

She quickly prepared the fillet to bake in the oven and threw together a salad to accompany it while it was cooking. She then made a pot of green tea and went to watch the news while her meal was in the oven. Katie kept no alcohol in the place anymore and saw the counsellor, Faith, once a week for an informal session after work. It was a routine she was slipping into and didn't resent because the psychologist within her told her firmly that she had been very lucky that her drinking had been picked up and nipped in the bud before it got too ingrained. As far as she could tell, the College Park personnel didn't seem to have any suspicions and accepted the bad bout of 'flu as the explanation for her absence. Spencer had obviously not said anything, even to Danielle, and Arthur was very discreet. Max was very re-assuring about the discretion but she knew that they would watch her more closely from now on. However, it made her also realise that the Bureau had a very good support system when it came to drink related problems, associated with the stresses of the job, but the agent who dabbled with drugs didn't usually get such compassionate treatment. Katie thought about how Reid, even yesterday, had been summoned for a drug test but he slipped away to deal with the request without moaning or appearing to be fazed by it all.

"Next month will be a year since my kidnap and having Dilaudid injected into my arms against my will. Perhaps I'll be trusted a little more and the number of random tests will be reduced through the next year," Spencer said ruefully as he handed over his 'group dynamics' report to her before going home.

"I trust you completely," Katie firmly replied and felt a twinge of anger on his behalf against the Bureau's rigid rules toward this hard working agent.

Spencer smiled at her in his gentle self-mocking way, "I know and I'm grateful. Hotch trusted me too but the rules are the rules and the Bureau is fanatical when it comes to drugs…I wouldn't mind but I was never into them even when I was at university. I like to keep my mind clear and certainly don't want to be out of control. Whoops that makes me sound like a control freak!" he said laughing and Katie grinned back.

"You're not a control freak…My father was a control freak and believe me life at home could be unpleasant if things were not done just so by my Mom. Actually, I think everyone here is totally on your side because you have been open about why they keep calling you in for tests…The mystique isn't there if you tell them the reason so there is no room for rumour. Adam is very impressed with the stance you have taken and it's got back to the right people in the upper echelons of power, unfortunately, that doesn't mean that the random tests will stop!" Katie added with some sympathy and hoped that they would lessen the frequency of the drug tests because it was overkill.

Katie ate her meal watching a repeat of a 'Law and Order' episode and mentally ticked off all the points of weakness in the plot. It was the problem about working in law enforcement, you just couldn't quite switch off from your training and any television 'crime' programme had the same effect on her. However, it was the best thing on the channels at that moment and she just wanted to wind down before going to bed.

**Two days later.**

In a quiet hotel room, a man spat out water into the basin. Nigel reflected how he was always sick when he got back but he had been promised that this would be his last undercover assignment in this field and for that he was grateful. He missed his family but his Jennie understood that this was something big and he'd be able to tell her about it when eventually everything came to arrests and closure. He'd been in place for nearly a year now and keeping his cover had called for all of his acting talents. Ironic that while studying for his degree he had majored in English and he had spent as much time as possible in the drama club while at university. His family thought he'd try for an acting career but he chose to digress and study law and worked as a lawyer for a few years. Nigel had enjoyed his performances for his clients in the courtroom but then he wanted something more and applied to the Bureau for training. This was the most demanding performance of his life and he hated every second of it but he knew that it was extremely important especially as the other agent had been exposed in the previous arrests.

Nigel had to play the divorced father with high child support around his neck that had led him to take his present position as a medical sales rep for a New Jersey pharmaceutical company. This conveniently explained all his travelling and the living out of hotel rooms to his contact, Andy. He ruefully told Andy that at least the company paid for his accommodation so he had kept up a continual work schedule in order not to have to pay out rent for a place of his own. Nigel quite literally lived out of a couple of suitcases but it was a bearable inconvenience because it protected his real family.

He went and sat down on the bed and deliberately turned off the clock's alarm; it was now Sunday and he deserved a lie in after the night he'd had. On Monday, he'd have an early start because he was driving to Wilmington to visit a couple of hospitals there. In reality, he would be meeting an agent at each of these hospitals. At the first hospital Nigel would pass on the latest films he'd managed to secretly record and his Torte site password to the agent there. Meanwhile, he would receive the next allocation of money for his activities from his contact at the second hospital. Nigel explained his ability to pay for his expensive hobby on his success at gambling on the ponies and a small monthly income from a family fund set up by his maternal grandfather. The Bureau had been very careful with all the minor details for this cover story because they knew they were dealing with very intelligent and devious minds with this illegal organisation that checked their members carefully to prevent infiltration by the authorities.

Nigel got into bed but he couldn't relax enough to sleep and was glad that his Jennie and beloved children, Rachel and Liam, were safe and far away in Seattle. He had been assured by the Director himself that they would be carefully watched while he was away in case someone broke his cover. What really mattered was that all three of them were protected from the evil he had witnessed already in Maryland, North Carolina and recently Virginia. Nigel thought about his latest film. He had met up with Andy who had then driven him to a secret venue in Virginia, not far from McLean, and he slipped into the Nigel persona who liked watching but never touched. There were several other men like him who liked to watch, exchange the pornographic photographs, and talk about the best sites to visit. But tonight had been special because he had been given the portable memory stick that was the secret key into the most treasured of the sites which his fellow 'watchers' enjoyed. It had cost four thousand in cash and hoped that that it was worth the cost for the CACU. He had to pay an extra sum, another three thousand, for the personal password to join this exclusive club but he had enough cash. At these venues everything was always on a cash basis and he was sure that Andy, and others on the 'frontline' of the organisation, took a cut of the money that passed through their hands.

Andy had assured him that the expense was worth it because this key and its password turned what looked liked an innocent cars' spares site into a paedophile's Aladdin's cave. Nigel was under strict CACU orders to return to his hotel room and check out the memory drive and password to the site because that would be the behaviour of a real paedophile. The CACU stressed that if he didn't access the site as soon as possible then the people who ran it would get suspicious. Nigel was further instructed to order some material, on his credit card that evening, again to keep in character. He was very tired when he had returned to the hotel room after midnight but he had followed orders. Nigel had connected his laptop to the internet but he was revolted by what he found on the site....

The CACU had told him that the portable memory drive would on its own look totally innocent if opened on a computer and would appear to have stored files of photographs taken of scenic views of New England in the Fall. Nigel was very impressed by all the detailed information right down to the number of characters for the secret password. Andy had instructed him to go onto the Torte Spares site and click on the image for the weekly special offer and he then had to plug in the 'flash drive' memory stick. His contact then told him how to activate the 'key' to get to the secret password command. Nigel wasn't allowed to write any of these instructions down but repeated them all back to Andy before his contact dropped him back at the hotel. Fortunately, the password sequence had been typed on a slip of paper and Andy had solemnly told him to memorise it as soon as he could for security when he handed it to him. The undercover agent had tapped out the sequence of 16 characters of what seemed to him to be a random line of numbers and upper and lower case letters and he thought the password was going to be particularly difficult to memorise. Once this password was entered into the computer then Nigel was suddenly confronted by images that would have delighted a paedophile.

However, Nigel couldn't get the images from the site out of his mind. At the venues he attended the girls were usually around the age of 14, a few a little younger and from the look of them they were drugged to keep them useful for the clients. But Andy had tonight hinted that on the site you could find younger girls and even the chance to meet them personally for one to one sessions at a price! What particularly revolted Nigel was the age of some of these girls on the site, younger than his 5 year old Rachel.

There were DVDs to order of photographs and films that could be bought with the assurance that any material would be personally delivered by the Torte Spares drivers to the client's home, or a safe mail box address by special arrangement. These measures were to ensure that any order would not fall into the wrong hands, or risk the postal authorities stumbling upon the contents of packages should they get torn in transit. Everything would be disguised as the delivery of spares for a car because no one suspected such a common transaction and they even insisted on a signature on delivery to make everything appear as normal as possible. Nigel had a paid for a post box address in Baltimore, a block away from the hotel where he usually stayed, for any mail deliveries. He knew that the minder on the desk would sign for any such packages. 'Yes,' thought Nigel, 'the CACU had really thought this one through in very fine detail and deserved to get these bastards.'

This case was really getting to him like no other had done over the past four years but Nigel prayed that he would do his part right so that they could break this syndicate and the perverse behaviour that they were encouraging. Nigel hoped that Jennie and the children were getting some sleep tonight because he was failing miserably to settle. He had rung home and spoken to Rachel earlier, before meeting up with Andy, and heard about the birthday party she had just returned from. Rachel was full of her news and was particularly excited about her kindergarten having a visit from a troupe of ballet dancers on the coming Tuesday… 'Every little girl's dream!' Nigel thought indulgently and stared at the image of his Rachel in her bubble gum pink leotard and her fair hair pulled back severely in a pony tail for her own weekly ballet lessons…Rachel grinned innocently back at him from the brown leather photo frame.

**College Park, Maryland**.

Danielle and Spencer had spent their Monday so far on mundane matters for the CACU. Danielle had been working on the material Spencer had gleaned from his initial hacking of the Torte site and building up details of all the customers who used it. Some would be innocent users but others would be more special clientele and Spencer was now eagerly awaiting the password that Nigel had been given. Their genius had worked out what he thought Nigel's password might be and he was waiting to test his theory. Spencer had explained to both Danielle and Katie that if he was correct then he could hack into the inner Torte site and down load the Torte material and hopefully all without being detected. Elaborating he told them that he'd developed a programme on a memory stick to mimic the user's coded entry key, but then while apparently browsing the porn it would be masking his real intentions of getting to the heart of the syndicate and downloading all the site's memory banks.

Katie and Danielle had just nodded and were pleased that he said he wouldn't burden them with the minute details of the theory behind his work. The two women had exchanged glances that spoke volumes to Spencer and was a common reaction as far as he was concerned. He was a genius who didn't like to overwhelm people with his mind and too often hid behind playing the harmless geek but when it really mattered, like now, Spencer had to be totally professional and use his intelligence for the greater good.

Several of the agents had been in court giving evidence for cases that had occurred before Reid had even arrived. However, Spencer had acted as the deputy in the bullpen so that Danielle could get on with her vital work without being interrupted. Katie had been in and out of the unit all day seeing Adam and Roy before finally going to see the Director. Meanwhile, Spencer had found time that afternoon to talk to Amanda, about her recent court appearance, and Chris, who had shown him the latest photos of his son. This had provided a welcomed break for Chris who was surfing paedophile sites trying to identify commonly used children.

Claire had talked to him about the case she'd been called to over a couple of 15 year old prostitutes in down town Baltimore. It never failed to sadden Reid that runaways could go unreported by their families because they were just unwanted as another mouth to feed. Any school follow up with the family's about truancy was often met with a shrug of the shoulders and 'she's gone to be with…the father, aunt, grandmother…' or any story to fob off officialdom. Some just disappeared from the mobile trailer park and schools assumed that the family had just chosen to leave the area to find work. Some schools just had such a demanding troublesome student population that a few less on the roll was welcome and the assumption of 'home-schooling' or 'moved away' were a convenient explanation for non-attendance.

Claire had been called in by the police because both of these girls had initially runaway for a few days and when they returned to the trailer park found that their family's had left because they couldn't pay the lot fee.

"God…you really wonder about some of these families! They had to eat so they went on the game…Toyah said that her mother had done that when she'd left home so Toyah felt she would cope afterall her Mom had. It had been all right…The men paid well and used condoms." Claire repeated the girl's explanation.

Spencer shook his head, "Well at least they were using condoms but we still have a duty to try and trace the families and charge them with child neglect because they're under-age. Did you say that there are younger ones still at home so maybe they're at risk too… just by being in the way, by the sounds of things."

"Oh Yeah…definitely at risk. Chelsea said that her younger sister was already in demand for 'blow jobs' because she was pretty and used all her wiles to get the top money. She's all of 12 years! They usually discussed which of the men they saw eyeing them up on the way to school and they made bets with each other as to who were the richest suckers! I don't think these girls were ever innocent…they were acting like real pros according to the vice squad who noticed them and picked them up."

"Where had they been when they ran away?" Spencer asked wondering if leaving the family had been initiated by a row.

"Ah now they could agree on parts of a consistent story," Claire replied ruefully, "Toyah had her tale about arguing with Mom about homework and wanting to go to a party. Chelsea's version was about being invited to a birthday weekend by a couple of boys and their sisters. Personally, I think they met a couple of boys, who were themselves just passing through, possibly with that Goth Rock Band Festival Baltimore had last week, and the girls spent time with them. But this 'good time with the boys' all coincided with the management of the trailer park getting tough over the rent that was owed. The girls couldn't be found so their parents seem to have left them to fend for themselves. They were both very lippy and I bet none of the parents had any control over their daughters…their school certainly didn't!"

Spencer Reid nodded; he knew the type and the situation. Coming from Las Vegas he was well aware of the tawdry side of any city and very much so with the Strip. The young could be very vulnerable to the bright lights and the thought of fast money with their the dreams of meeting the rich man who would keep them well and provide the escape to a better world. But such dreams were quickly shattered by the realities.

Reid had been brought up in a quiet residential part of the city but to most outsiders his home-town was more of a den of iniquity for its gambling, bright lights and sexual excesses at the less glamorous establishments. These lived alongside the more exclusive clubs and casinos that had their own undertones of, but more expensive and perhaps more discreet, human indulgences. Few outsiders ever thought about the university, museums or the beauty of the surrounding canyons, mountains and desert that were part of the wider Las Vegas.

He looked up and saw Katie sweep through the doors with a purposeful step and air of triumph. She caught his eye and gave a slight nod. Spencer excused himself to follow his boss to her office.

Reid closed the door and Katie turned her dark sparkling brown eyes on him. To Spencer the eyes merely confirmed his initial assessment of a successful afternoon with the Director.

"I have Nigel's password for you…You can have as much time as you like to hack…" she stated without any pre-amble, "He confirmed what Shields told us that the material is always delivered to an address because you can't download from the site. Of course, having the address and the real details of the credit card owners is the perfect staging post for blackmail should the opportunity arise."

Reid took the folded paper from her proffered hand and looked at the hand written sequence scrawled in black ballpoint pen. Katie watched his reaction carefully and felt satisfied as the young man's face broke into a knowing smile of his own success as he read the paper. The young deputy looked up and then grinned openly…

"It's as I thought. I can start immediately. I have everything I need to down load the information because I signed out the necessary external hard drive from the 'Computer Forensics department' before you returned to the unit."

"You were that sure that we would take this course of action?"

"It is the only course of action so that the syndicate and their clientele cannot wriggle off the hook. You know how hard it can be to catch everyone involved in such an outfit. Once caught they employ the best lawyers and then getting a successful outcome can become a prolonged fight of proving that the evidence is watertight. I want a watertight case so no one escapes the law. I know that it will be only a drop in the ocean of depravity, that exists in our veneer of civilisation, but at least it will be a drop that we will have wiped up," the man stated in a quiet unemotional voice that hinted of the rarely seen steely inner core.

"I sincerely hope so, Spencer," she replied with some feeling and didn't doubt this man's ability to produce the goods.

It was 5:50 when he sat down with a 'DO NOT DISTURB' notice, in bold blood-red lettering, staring up at him from his desk. Danielle had decided to leave him in peace and had suddenly produced this rarely seen sign.

"We only use them if its really important so everyone gets the message that something requiring uninterrupted concentration is transpiring in the office. Good luck!" she said and grinned.

"Thanks," he replied softly and accepted the sign on white laminated card with its thin nylon cord to hang from the door handle.

Spencer decided to go to the men's room first and get a coffee before getting started. He filled his berry red mug to the brim with strong very sweet Nescafe, but with very little milk, and carried it carefully back to the office bidding the departing agents 'goodnight' along the way. Once he'd put the mug on his desk, Spencer picked up the sign and hung it from the handle before firmly closing the door and turning the lock into place aswell to make doubly sure that no one would burst in.

Tony and Carl saw this all happen as they slipped on their coats and they exchanged glances.

"Looks like things are suddenly beginning to get interesting," Tony whispered.

"Yeah…and my money's on Spencer pulling this off!" replied Carl with a smile. Carl had a very healthy respect for the genius on loan from Quantico, especially as he'd seen him at work with Austin Shields.

Spencer took the unassuming small rectangular grey metal box, not even four inches in width he mused to himself, but this was the portable hard drive with its 2 Terabytes of external memory. He took the short lead and connected it to one of the computer USB ports. This he hoped would be large enough to archive all the material he was going to hack into from the site. 'One TB is equal to one thousand GBs,' a distant part of his brain chanted in his head or 'One Terabyte could store a thousand hours of video or 320,000 photographs'. Reid mentally shrugged at the odd bits of knowledge that were always just beneath the surface to accompany his actions and often confounded his fellow mortals.

Then from his desk drawer he retrieved an innocent looking small portable memory stick, the type of flash drive you could easily buy on the High Street in any town, and placed it beside the keyboard. He stared for a few moments at the screen and reached for his mug because his mouth felt suddenly dry. Spencer Reid knew the case really hinged on his ability to get this right but he'd prepared well for this task his inner voice re-assured him.

Savouring a few more gulps of strong sweet coffee he consciously calmed his breathing and then typed in the web address for the Torte Spares site. Anyone could legitimately come here but now he had to enter the other private world that was hidden within it. Spencer had copied the photographs of New England in the Fall from the other 'portable keys'. The photographs had sometimes been stored on innocent looking flash drives, or small external hard drives, that had been confiscated along, with their owners' computers, following their arrest in the Rankin raid before Christmas or the earlier Philadelphia raid. To the forensic cataloguer, making a list of the material taken into custody, this was not pornography but innocent looking photographs of scenery from a holiday. Spencer had to admit that it had all been extremely well thought out.

For a few minutes the agent fingered the small innocent looking flash drive that he was going to us as the 'key'. His long slender fingers worked it between his hands, playing with it in a way a magician might toy with an object for a new trick. But this key was special to Spencer because he had adapted it to not only enter the secret world but it would also allowed him to down load the entire contents of the site while appearing to browse what was on offer for the paedophile to buy.

He pushed the small memory stick into the spare USB port and clicked on the image of the spare part on special offer for that week. Spencer moved the cursor to 'file' and scrolled down to click on 'save as' in order to activate the key. The picture disappeared behind the request that now dominated the centre of the screen and asked for the user's password. Spencer was conscious of his heartbeat and the buzz of anticipation as he deliberately entered the sequence and prayed that this would work and open the door to a depraved world.

Reid liked to think that he was not easily shocked after his last Doctorate, into the motivation and background of criminal psychopaths, and his work in the BAU. However, he sensed that a continual diet of depravity towards children could be the one thing to bring him to know his true limits.

To Reid's relief he was in and activating the hacking programme to stealthily retrieve all the data stored within the site. Meanwhile, he began to act the role of a paedophile, just like Nigel had done in the early hours of Sunday morning. The light on the portable hard drive continually blinked blue to show it was actively following his orders but the agent was steadily feeling more repulsion with each image he clicked on. The objective agent in him forced Reid to continue to explore the site and he soon discovered that the images covered all ages from small babies through to young teens. Young boys and girls stared wide-eyed in a pleading for these men to stop their sexual abuse but their lack of physical resistance implied that many were scared and some were undoubtedly drugged. Spencer thought that they looked more like rag dolls being toyed with by their tormentors rather than real children. Others were obviously long conditioned by their role and acquiesced to the commands given without much emotional reaction. These children seemed to be staring with stony faces, knowing that any resistance was utterly useless in this world that they were trapped in. But Spencer was still haunted by the look of 'no escape' in their eyes that was caught by the camera.

Agent Reid wondered who the children were and they seemed to cover the spectrum of ethnicity but the abusers were predominantly white. Some DVDs on offer gave previews of their contents; many concerned photo shoots, the boy or girl being ordered as to what pose was required and zooming in on genitalia, especially of young boys masturbating. There was one trailer for DVDs offering the delights of pubescent girls, the buyer had only to choose the colouring required. Spencer had clicked on the first one on offer and saw a pale blond haired girl, about 12 years old, standing naked before the camera and a voice with a Texan drawl ordering her to stand straighter so her 'tits' looked more pert.

Another speciality amongst the merchandise was recorded sex with children of both sexes and all ages. The buyer had to choose the sex, age group and particular fantasy on offer. Spencer made his choices. A muscular male, face hidden, was shown penetrating a boy, no older than 5 years, in a forest setting in the trailer for 'Woodland Delights'.

Clicking on to a titled icon of 'Our Exclusive Personal Services', the client was assured that they could view a gallery of boys or girls for 'one to one time'. Reid clicked to explore and the screen changed into a page of questions to choose your preferences: boy or girl. Then you had to choose the age preference and the client could scroll down his options from baby through to 12 years. The next category was colouring and ethnicity before the client could choose an activity of a personal photo shoot or more intimate work. These services were not cheap but clients were assured confidential and secure surroundings for the activities on offer.

The time passed and the young agent felt old, dirty and angry at the world that would allow such sites even to exist. He was relieved when he noticed that the blue light was no longer blinking. Reid gratefully removed himself from the site and felt the need to go to the men's room before he threw up in the office. He rose and disconnected both the external hard drive and the smaller flash drive memory stick and placed them both in the room's safe for security. But then Spencer felt the bile trying to escape and began to produce excess saliva to counter the acid. He needed to get to the men's room fast because he knew that the gagging reflex would soon begin.

Reid was grateful that the night staff didn't seem to take any notice of his quick strides to the male inner sanctum. He dived for the nearest cubicle and emptied the contents of his stomach. Spencer was relieved when the accompanying rush of heat with the vomiting was then replaced by the sudden rapid cooling of his body. He shivered at the force of his body's reaction to the past hour. Spencer leaned against the white tiled wall and breathed as calmly as he could to get himself in control of his very being again. A feeling of physical weakness washed over him and then his body began to slowly return to a more normal state. He flushed the toilet and went over to the basins to rinse the taste of bile from his mouth and wash his face and hands.

'Jeez…I hate this job!' he said to himself and looked at the image staring bleakly back at him. The long thin pale face only seemed to emphasise the enormous brown eyes. Did he know the man? The face that looked out at him was one that had seen too much evil for one day. He glanced at his clothing; the black cashmere v necked sweater and charcoal corduroy pants appeared to have fortunately escaped the vomiting.

Dr. Spencer Reid calmed himself enough to slip back again to the office; he removed the sign from the door and closed down his computer. Spencer needed to escape quickly, it was an urgency that was throbbing through his body and dominating his rational thought. His inner-self was frantically telling him that he had to go somewhere happy and warm….

Reid was heading for the elevator with a determined stride when he heard his name…

"Spencer!" called a male voice that the agent told himself he should know but at that moment his mind was still trying to suppress the images he'd seen. Spencer turned and before him stood the rotund form of Arthur.

"You all right?" the psych quietly asked as he reached him with the older man's professional antenna twitching trying to read the situation.

Spencer couldn't find words at first but shook his head and then whispered, "It's just a case I'm working, Arthur …I was going home to forget about it."

"Come on, my room for a few minutes peace… you look very pale…"

Spencer put up no resistance because he knew that Arthur was acting in the correct professional manner…The very way that Spencer would have professionally acted with an agent who he suspected was in need of a few quiet steadying minutes.

They went in silence to Arthur's room; the older man flicked the switch to bring the space alive as they passed through the open door. Spencer closed the door behind him and sank into the easy chair and Arthur sat on the sofa nearby.

"I can't tell you specifics, Arthur…it's very big and a lot rides on what I've been doing tonight," he replied to Arthur's unasked question.

Arthur nodded, "It must be pretty awful because you're a very strong person, Spencer…A sensitive but you're also very strong and something really shook you tonight."

Spencer hunched his shoulders and leaned forward, he unconsciously swept his right hand through his hair.

"Arthur, I can cope with the BAU work because there is a certain variation in the crimes and mostly they involve adults but the CACU…its just endless the harm and depravity towards children. I guess what I saw tonight just …I think I got to my limit! But on another level I'm just pleased that I managed to hack into the paedophile site and safely downloaded the data… Well I hope I've got what we need to identify both the victims and perpetrators because that will effectively wrap it all up into a tight prosecution case."

"And you emptied your stomach," observed Arthur quietly in a matter of fact tone.

"Yeah…" Spencer admitted and looked up at Arthur with the question mirrored in his face.

"Spencer, I remember seeing you after you'd been sick quite a few times at the Clinic…But you got the data you needed?" probed Arthur.

"I've not checked it but I believe I have…To be honest, I just want to get home to Jo and normality…"

"Good, that's re-assuring…I know that you're going to be all right and tomorrow you'll check the data. But by tomorrow, you'll feel the personal distress was worth it because you can nail the bastards!" stated Arthur with some feeling that made Spencer smile at hearing this man's words and within them the firm belief in Spencer's abilities to succeed.

"I hope you're right Arthur. I like my colleagues and the more I work with them, the more I admire their strengths to cope with the work…They seem so committed and Katie has managed to keep a good hold on her team and everyone is supportive of one another. I know if I'd have gone to see Katie she would have been there for me but I was in flight mode when you saw me …"

"Yes, I picked that up…Katie's still in her office?"

"She was when I left. The door was closed but the light was still on, which implies she was working. But I really didn't want to talk about what I'd just had to trawl through…It wouldn't shock her or any of them there…It was just that I felt the need to get out of that unit and to be reminded of more normal things."

"Mmm…Guess I don't really come under the normality umbrella!" said Arthur with his twinkling dark eyes hinting at the mischief alongside the compassion.

"Arthur…You are a breath of normality by being what you are…A compassionate psyche who helped me last year and you're still doing that tonight!" replied Spencer with a slight smile.

The older man grinned, "Well, I'm just doing my job," said Arthur softly but he knew that the words also told of an unspoken trust between the two men.

"Exactly! But you're also respecting that I can't talk specifics," replied Spencer warmly, "You know when I arrived at the unit they all wanted to meet Jo to make sure that I had a stable home life. I think if Jo hadn't been part of my world then I wouldn't have even been considered for the placement…"

"No, I don't think Max would have let Katie get her wish and she had been very pushy about having you. I suspected that she had some case in mind for your talents but you are doing very well, everyone is impressed and you have shown how capable you are in a managerial post. It's all good experience and you know, as much as I, that tonight's experience is normal…healthily normal…In fact, if you didn't feel revulsion I'd be worried that you were losing your sensitivity… We both know that you need the sensitivity for psych work both as a profiler and in the psych department for helping fellow agents…

But what pleases me most is that you are en route home to your wife and that again is the stable and very normal response to your work. You're not heading for the bar, or going round in circles, brooding in the deputy's office, but closing the door on today's events and going home to sanity. Just wait till you have a family!" said Arthur in a final flourish.

"Family? Where did that come from…Is this another of your wager's on my life?" countered Spencer.

"No, it's just the next logical step because the greatest leap you make in believing in humanity is to have children. If we really felt the world was such an awful place we responsible adults wouldn't have children. Now your Jo is maternal, and that was part of the attraction…You like children but it's a big step and you've only just got married…However, be prepared Spencer, the number of agents who marry and have children quickly is quite high. The work is stressful, the hours awful but you often find that the maternal woman wants a child just in case the man gets killed on the job. We all know that agents sometimes get hurt however, the number of deaths in the line of duty is actually quite low in the Bureau. What they are really saying is that they get lonely and would like something more out of their special relationship before the job takes a bigger toll on their lives. Just being a twosome is fine at first but then it becomes too self centred and you want something more…a uniqueness and every child is unique and they represent so much hope and potential for the future."

Spencer sat and stared at Arthur and wondered where all this was coming from suddenly…especially after what he had been watching less than an hour ago.

Arthur observed the young agent opposite him and grinned, he'd just done a great job at distracting him in a personal direction and thinking in a more positive way about children. He wondered if it would be Jo or Spencer who weakened first towards wanting that special child. Arthur was pleased that Spencer's normal colour had returned and he seemed much calmer now and less likely to make a mistake driving home.

Spencer looked up and grinned at the psych, "How's Susan?" he suddenly asked taking a different path.

"Decorating again…it's all your fault for marrying an interior designer! Your Jo has filled her head with all these ideas. I got home yesterday to find expensive fancy rolls of wallpaper had been delivered…apparently its for a feature wall in the guest room…" he rolled his eyes and his hands fluttered as if to emphasise his lack of control over his partner who obviously ruled the house.

"Look, I had three psychs all telling me that I needed to make the effort to find a stable partner so I did. Now you're complaining that my chosen partner has some influence over your wife! Well I couldn't possibly say…It's her work and she has this gift of being able to communicate her ideas easily," Spencer countered the accusation with a broad smile.

"She's very successful according to Susan…My Susan knows about these things and 'Fairfax Estates' is held in very high regard amongst some of the women she mixes with…"

Spencer nodded and felt tiredness sweep over him and stifled a yawn, "Sorry."

Arthur rose, "Come on its time we both headed home."

Spencer didn't argue but as they parted in the car park, the young agent was grateful for the few minutes they had just spent together. He didn't regret not going to see Katie because seeing Arthur had been more settling for him. Spencer told himself that he would start early tomorrow and give Katie an update on his activities when they both felt more refreshed after a night's sleep.

Reid turned his car into the driveway and stopped the engine, he was glad to be home. The drapes were drawn across the windows at the front of the house but the lights were obviously on and he suspected that Jo was busy on her own 'Fairfax Estates' work. She was capable of filling the time when he was not at home and that was a very necessary part of being an agent's partner.

'Hi! Have a good day?" Jo called as he closed the front door and smelt the aroma of homemade bread wafting his way. The empty stomach moaned about its lack of contents.

"Yeah…good, busy but good. How about you?" he asked as he hung up his overcoat and jacket.

"A couple of satisfied clients and Uncle Jeff is pleased because we have some more business from the Pentagon. Mom rang with some news about Craig and Melinda…" and Jo suddenly was there giving him a hug. Spencer's thin arms immediately responded to the cuddly warmth and drew her close to him, smelling the faint jasmine perfume that lingered about her.

What news?" he whispered into her dark hair as he gently let his hand roam her back.

"Melinda's pregnant…so she's as sick as a dog as usual…Honestly she always reacts the same way and for the first four months she looks awful and can't keep much down," she replied softly.

"Wow…Bet your parents are pleased but three children under 5 is going to be a handful…When is she due?"

"August…"

Spencer's stomach groaned with its emptiness.

"Goodness…Have you eaten today?"

"Oh, I've been really busy…I guess its catching up with me now and you've been baking!"

"Good job too…You can have a wholemeal roll with the home-made tomato soup while I heat up your portion of salmon pie."

She moved away and Spencer felt the loss of the warmth of her body but he followed her into the kitchen like an obedient puppy anticipating the meal that he would soon be eating. It was times like these that he was pleased that this woman he loved could cook well.

Two hours later he was feeling full and satisfied and ready to slip into sleep following their lovemaking. Jo had responded warmly to his advances and he wondered fleetingly if he should talk about the case but he decided to keep that hidden from her even if he would only have referred to things in very vague terms. Spencer had encouraged the conversation to family matters to take his mind of his work. They had discussed Melinda and Craig while he ate his meal and he thought that there was something wistful about Jo that he'd not seen before…or perhaps he'd imagined it…. 'It was all Arthur's fault,' he concluded as his eyes closed and he automatically placed a protective arm across his partner.

The next morning, he had arrived at the CACU at 7:00 sharp. After making his necessary, and customary, coffee he headed for his office. He knew that he'd probably have just over an hour before Danielle came in and he wanted to see quickly what he had downloaded the previous evening besides the expected pornography. He found the exclusive clienteles' bank details, with names and addresses, were protected by another password. However, Spencer now felt that he knew the mind of the creator of this 'secure' site and within five minutes he had accessed the data and began to print it out. The material ordered from the site was also meticulously listed alongside the clients' buying history from both the legitimate Torte site and the illicit one. Furthermore, the arrogance of the site's owners, who thought their site was safe from discovery, had led them to be sloppy and stored the details of the distribution of the money once collected from the credit card companies. Katie and Danielle would be thrilled because here were the syndicates' names, addresses and their bank accounts. Although these details were kept behind another password, Spencer had again guessed it quite easily after the previous work he had done to understand the original entry password sequence.

The hard drive spilled its secrets and Spencer was delighted and relieved that the distress he'd experienced had been worthwhile because he had achieved more than they could have dreamed. Here was their case; the syndicate members were identified along side their private bank details and addresses of the clients who had bought things from the paedophile section and this strengthened Spencer's resolve to face the images again. Knowing what to expect, the second exploration of the material was not as horrendous as the first time. He distantly wondered if this was his sensitive side 'hardening up' through the experience so that he could be of use in future operations.

Paedophiles were always within a society, secretly active and working their way into the lives of innocents despite the checks that children's play groups and organisations routinely made. The obvious problem was that unless these people were identified and brought to justice, then they could continue to destroy the lives of the children they got access to. They could be outwardly respectable, not the dirty stranger lurking to grab the child from the street but the friendly neighbour, the devoted church member or the gentle looking 'grandfather figure'. There was no outward mark of Cain to distinguish them from the other innocent men in the neighbourhood. But Spencer felt an excitement that his work would enable his dedicated colleagues to have a major success that was going to rock society in the Capital and surrounding states.

As the printed sheets were spat out of the printer, Reid scanned the names, he recognised some and to his surprise there were more than the known 'mole' in the FBI's Washington Office. Once he had the data separated in a file on the computer, he then ran it against the Bureau's list of employees to see who would be flagged up. Twenty minutes later he was holding a sheet that contained 54 names, and listed their Bureau status, most were consultants or civilian staff. As he scanned down the list, Reid knew several by reputation and some he had met during his time at the FBI.

Then his eyes fell on a name that brought the reality home….

End of Chapter 20


	21. Chapter 21

**The Interregnum: Chapter 21**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

Spencer stood by his desk with the printout in his hand and just stared at the name that was almost at the end of the list. It was as if the time had stopped for him as he tried to get his head around the meaning of that name being there.

'What was it, number 49?' a part of his still functioning brain asked but the genius was still shocked by the reality. He knew this man; this man was in a trusted position. This man had been into his home; he had been to his apartment in Alexandria and to the Berwyn Heights house. Jo had made him and his co-worker coffee and given them home made cookies whenever they called, no matter if it was day or night, just to make everyone feel comfortable with the situation.

Spencer mentally shook himself to get back to the task in hand, he needed to check this man's finances and see how he could afford to use the Torte services on his salary.

Dr. Katie Cole was stuck in a traffic jam. There was nothing she or her fellow drivers could do but curiosity led her to tune into a local radio station to see if she could find out what was happening ahead. It didn't take long before the snippet came about problems due to an accident involving two cars and a lorry. The 'roving helicopter' report led Katie to think that all three vehicles had been travelling too fast, and too close to one another, when the two cars crashed and the lorry following had ploughed into the cars. A few moments later, the helicopter pilot reported to the listeners that it looked like the lorry had ploughed into the back of two cars and then had turned over on its side spilling it's load of fruit on the highway. This had all happened on a section of the road that was already down to single lane traffic due to maintenance work on that stretch of the highway. Dr. Cole turned off the engine with a sigh because it was going to be a long wait and she accepted that it was going to be one of those mornings. Katie chose an easy listening CD of popular Mozart piano pieces and let her mind wander over CACU matters…

The previous evening she had hoped that Spencer would come in and tell her that he'd been successful with his hacking but when she finally left, at just before 9 p.m., the deputy's office was dark and obviously empty. Katie wondered if she had put too much pressure on the young deputy but he was certainly coping with the unit and their workload and was well liked. It was difficult to have a real genius with them; she just didn't know what was 'normal' for him. Normally an agent would have far more experience before being in a deputy's position, even if they had a doctorate in criminal psychology, but then Reid had gained his qualification at 21 and the Bureau had accepted him for training. Katie knew that Gideon had kept the young Reid under his wing but Jason Gideon was himself not an easy man to work with and there had been plenty of rumours coming out of Quantico that Gideon's final year had shown up a lot of cracks in the senior psych. It was strange but Spencer Reid had youthful looks while his mind was ageless and with a fathomless depth that was awesome at times. She sensed the previous evening that he was excited and sure of himself when she handed him the paper with Nigel's password….

Katie could see the whole scene again in her imagination, and she confirmed to herself that he had left her with a self confidence in his abilities, so this made her explore the possibilities as to why he'd not come to see her before going home.

To be fair, Katie had not asked him to report to her before leaving so he'd not broken any order but it irked her a little. Perhaps she was just reading too much into his non-appearance, it might have been that seeing her door shut that he assumed that she was busy and didn't want to be disturbed. Afterall, whatever he found would take time to process and get it into order for a prosecution case. It all depended on what he did find to down load; it would be really useful if the hacked material contained images of children who they could run against the 'missing children' database. The more Katie thought about this case, the more she felt that the children had been kidnapped or sold on by drug cartels or their clients. It would be even more useful if he had some details of the clientele so they could tie up some of the images from Nigel's films that Danielle had not been able to identify so far. There was even more film now from Nigel for Danielle to work on and this might yield even more surprises but she was well aware that a lot of people were involved with the illegal venues and the material made for the Torte site.

Perhaps it had taken Spencer longer than anticipated because his initial idea didn't work. If this was the case then he may have had to adjust the 'key' he had prepared and all that further mental work had left him very tired. Or, he had failed completely and he had to re-think the whole approach to enter the site…

They were working on several fronts with things that Spencer had managed to bring into the open. The visit to see Austin Shields, now safely hidden as a cop-killer in Connecticut, had been an eye-opener for Katie. She had tagged along but let Carl and Spencer interview the prisoner now known as David White, who had finally been caught for a crime that was over four years old, and they hoped no one would start delving behind that cover.

Spencer was an expert at quietly using his psychology to break a prisoner and Katie thought that the young genius had obviously observed Gideon and then refined his own techniques that he had used to interview the convicted psychopaths for his doctorate. She had watched from the observation room and was fascinated that the prisoner had refused to have a lawyer with him because he didn't know who he could trust anymore, despite the FBI assuring him that they had found a trustworthy and experienced one for him. He was trying to bargain for a more lenient sentence if he co-operated but Dr. Spencer Reid was not a 'push-over'….

"I think you've been disposing of the girls once they got too old or troublesome," Spencer said softly facing him across the table with Carl Miyake sitting quietly to Reid's left.

"I swear, I never killed any kid…I just did the cleaning up…" protested the prisoner and looked agitated with the inferred allegation of being a child murderer. "Look I killed Rankin, but no kids," he stated firmly.

"So what did this 'cleaning up' really entail?" Spencer persisted for specifics.

Shields leaned his large muscled bulk back in his chair and seemed to compose himself and his thoughts before he answered.

"Wallace Torte would ring me saying his or his wife's car needed some attention, just in case someone was listening in at the garage where I worked, that way if one of the other mechanics heard anything they just thought that I was doing a bit of work on the side for a friend. We all did that in our spare time but none of us ever used the garage equipment …we just did small jobs that we could do quickly and just needed a mechanic's expertise."

The two agents nodded in understanding and Spencer smiled slightly and kept eye contact to encourage the man to continue.

"I'd go out to the Torte home, big place on the outskirts of Philadelphia. He's got an enormous garage there, big enough for 5 cars, and he also has a hidden cellar beneath the garage where he keeps his fancy cases of wine that he's laid down and there are also a couple of big chest freezers. I never knew what they looked like because the bodies were already wrapped tightly in black garbage bags and placed in the freezer until they could be disposed off. They were light enough and put in a trunk for transporting in my van.

It was always at night so the traffic would be lighter on the way to Baltimore's marina where Torte had shares in a boat. It was my job to transport the trunk and other innocent looking luggage…A few times it was two trunks while at others it was the trunk and a few big cases. Wallace Torte and Michael Wells would drive behind me all the way there. We acted as if we were going out to do some sea fishing and were just getting the gear on board for an early start the next morning. No one ever stopped or questioned us because they were known at the marina, and I became known as one of their fishing friends, so the security there just accepted everything as normal. We would get on board and get some sleep, and raise the anchor and set out for sea at dawn.

Once we were well out into deep water, then I took the body out of the trunk and tied anchor chains around it for weight so it would sink easily. We actually did some fishing and it was quite a pleasant social time really. If there were no other boats in the area, then we slipped a body over the side. But if other boats were fishing, we'd wait until the late evening. We'd return late afternoon or the next day depending on whether we were able to slip the body quickly over the side," he recounted in an emotionless voice.

Spencer gave no comment but asked for further information, "What was your payment?"

"Access to the Torte site and freebies. I got credit put on my Torte account so I could get their merchandise and then there was sometimes access to young boys for doing a cleaning up job efficiently."

"So you don't feel an attraction for the girls?"

"No, I prefer young boys but they had more girls and the venues usually have girls just beginning to blossom…if you know what I mean?"

"Yes, in our work we do know what you mean. But where did you have access to these boys?"

"I don't want to talk about that until I have some assurance that the DA accepts that my co-operation is going to be taken into account. They wanted Rankin dealt with because he was too soft with his girls and thought he was soft enough to try to do a deal…"

"But what I don't understand is why you took on a murder rap for 'silencing' Ranking?" Spencer pressed trying to understand all the motivations because he was sure that Torte and the fellow members of the syndicate had something on this man to make him eager to obey their orders.

"I was trying to protect my younger brother, Gary. I've always tried to keep Gary out of trouble and I think he only does the deliveries of the special 'spare parts' and isn't involved in the venues or the site… I don't think he knows what he's really delivering…You see, Gary has always tended to trust people and he's worked for the Torte Spare Parts for years. It was the old man who gave him his job and Gary just loyally drives for them without asking questions. When Lisa married Wallace then she came under his spell and became as devious as her husband. Gary just loves driving…he likes women but he hasn't the money to be part of the venues. He got his truck licence but didn't like all the days away from home and the girlfriend he had at the time…So when the old man offered him the driving position he took it. The pay was less but he was able to cope with the daily driving just delivering spare parts to garages…and it was just garages in those days…the old man was clean."

Spencer let the prisoner ramble on without interruption because he was building up a more comprehensive picture of the syndicate they were trying to come to grips with. But he wanted to know how long it had been running and how extensive it was.

"So how long have you been 'cleaning up'?" the young deputy mildly asked. Katie thought Spencer Reid was doing an excellent job because whatever revulsion he felt for the prisoner there was no indication in his voice or posture.

"Four years," he replied with a smile, "Didn't think it had been going that long did you?"

Spencer kept a steady eye contact with the prisoner…

"Why should I believe you? You could be telling me quite a yarn to try and keep yourself outside the Capital region," the agent calmly retorted.

Katie smiled to herself at the exchange but she was worried about it if it was the truth. If Shields had been 'participating' for four years, then just how long had the illegal venues been working? Or had Wallace Torte and Wells encouraged a co-operation between separate operators in order to milk the wealthy vice together and on a grander scale? It was a world of secrets and the wealthy were vulnerable to blackmail once their weakness was known. Katie was very aware that it was only by chance that they had been given a slender thread that they were now trying to carefully unravel and it had taken months so far.

"You don't believe me?" the big man challenged, "Look I'm the one trying to prove my self worthy of preferential treatment!"

"Preferential treatment…" repeated Reid softly, like a kitten patting a ball of wool playfully around a room before the more sudden and aggressive pounce. "Now that's an unusual thing to say, big words for a very small cog in the scheme of the syndicate. To me you were expendable, you owed these people your loyalty because of what they had on you…and you had crossed them in someway and that is how we got you…selling your own photographs of kiddie porn in an indiscreet manner and molesting young boys. It must have annoyed your masters to have you arrested; messing around with your girlfriend's sons after the syndicate had given you access to safer delights."

Katie felt chilled to hear this normally good humoured young man bait a paedophile like this because it seemed so out of character to hear him turn the screw of pressure a little tighter. She was transfixed by the interview room's confrontation and wondered when Reid would go in for the kill.

The prisoner shrugged but Carl and Spencer knew that Shields was uncomfortable because he had lost ground despite all the information he had seemed willing to give up.

"I'm telling you the truth, its up to you, but you had me moved here and I was delivering on that bargain we struck in Baltimore," he stated again. "It's you who's reneging!" he loudly accused Reid and Katie knew that her agents were aware that this change in demeanour signalled the prisoner's insecurity.

"Look Shields, I know that Wells and Torte didn't buy that fishing boat until three years ago…so the time scale doesn't fit. If you had been 'cleaning' up for them for four years then where were you burying the bodies before the boat? I know that there is no indication in the financial records of either men for hiring a fishing boat, or any boat for that matter, during the period before they acquired the present one," Reid stated in a quiet but firm commanding voice.

Katie unconsciously rubbed her hands together and a cunning smile crossed her lips in anticipation of the answer that the man might give. The prisoner certainly had decided to drop the eye contact with the slender young man opposite him and seemed to be very interested in the finely scratched surface of the grey plastic tabletop between them. Both Reid and Miyake sat immobile, both men were studies in calmness and assertiveness, just waiting for the prisoner's reply.

"If I tell you that then you'll know where they keep some of the kids," he finally said and looked up, "And I still need some bargaining power," he added trying to regain his former defiant position.

"We're the ones with the upper hand here. Like I told you in Maryland, if you feed us false information then we won't keep you hidden. We haven't even told your brother where you are, not that he has tried to visit you since you murdered Rankin. I suppose he doesn't want to be tainted by your actions. I guess its one thing to have a brother on remand awaiting trial for peddling paedophile porn and molesting his girlfriend's sons but to then add murder to the list…Or perhaps Gary's in deeper than you want us to think?" Reid taunted to keep the pressure on the prisoner.

"Look our Dad used to mess with us and I tried to protect Gary from it…But he's never been interested in behaving like Dad but he has tried to be a good brother. He didn't like visiting me but he did out of duty… but I know his girlfriend didn't want him to."

"Ah…so you think she won the argument?" Reid asked in a solicitous manner.

Shields nodded but to Katie his bulk didn't seem as imposing as earlier.

"What did you really do to annoy them so much that you were no longer allowed access to boys as payment for your services?" asked Reid continuing his probing.

Shields looked up and his face was momentarily stricken with indecision.

"I need assurances that I'll be in a wing with other prisoners who like boys…I'm willing to undergo whatever treatment is offered me," Shields pleaded and his demeanour cried out for understanding but Carl's face was neutral and Spencer was not giving in so easily.

"Your co-operation in breaking this syndicate will be taken into account at your sentencing but you have committed offences against children, which never goes down very well with a jury, and you have also killed a man on orders from… Torte?"

The prisoner nodded.

" You're finally agreeing that it was on Wallace Torte's orders?" persisted Reid to get a verbal answer.

"Yeah, or at least I assumed it was from him…that lawyer I had told me that Gary would be looked after if I silenced Rankin and the box of paints would contain a possible means… 'Like sticking a pig…'he said. I don't think Gary knew what was in the box. I asked for a box of watercolours and of course he mentioned it while at the delivery office and Lisa said she'd get one while out shopping to save him breaking off from his delivery schedule. Guess someone planted the sharpened wooden weapon while he was out delivering…"

Whatever the agents really believed they didn't show it to the prisoner but accepted the answer. They had suspected the lawyer from Shields's earlier remarks in Baltimore but now he had formally said the man was implicated. The watching of the corrupt lawyer in the Public Defenders Office would continue but the Director would be pleased that they now had this on tape. So this implicated Lisa Torte aswell and Katie was delighted that Barbara Phelps had been correct with her intuition that the woman was hiding things when she had spoken to her following the attack on Rankin.

"Why were you in the syndicates' bad books?" Reid asked gently, which seemed so odd considering his former persistent tone.

The prisoner looked up and seemed to search the young agent's face, perhaps looking for some compassionate understanding of how trapped he felt.

"It would be best to get the story from you because we're going to move against this syndicate and don't you think the big people, who have been making all the money, should also pay up for their actions. Or is it going to be another case where only the small fry, like yourself, take the rap because the big people have the money to buy the lawyers to get them off?" suggested Spencer deliberately to magnify the prisoner's doubts, and sense of self preservation, that were already there.

Austin Shields was full of indecision but the agents waited calmly for him to weigh up the issues that were going to affect the outcome of his case.

"I swear I've never hurt a kid, they've always enjoyed it…But this one…he must have been sick and they didn't know…I don't know how or what happened…" the big man fumbled and Katie thought he was genuinely distressed for the first time that day.

"What happened? If you tell us it will help us to understand…like you say, perhaps the child was already sick?" replied Spencer in a soothing coaxing voice. Katie nodded to herself at the way Reid seemed to reach out in his willingness to understand this massive man's actions.

"I'd cleaned up two and they said that they had a new boy, about 8 years old. Wells said that this boy looked like an angel because he had pale blond hair, blue eyes and was slender with a very pale skin. They said that if I was interested they'd let me have him first the next night…They knew I'd be gentle with a new one you see," Shields looked up at his interrogator, his eyes pleading for understanding as he tried to explain.

"When was this? Reid asked trying to get some time scale.

" A few days before you people raided the Wells venue."

Reid nodded and softly added, "Then what happened?"

Shields seemed reluctant to continue and Katie thought that perhaps he was having second thoughts about explaining an actual incident with one of the children. However, her agent kept his nerve and waited patiently, giving the prisoner space to organise his thoughts. Austin Shields silently re-focused on his interrogator but Spencer Reid looked at him with large doe-like sensitive eyes that dominated his long thin face and nodded his encouragement, while Carl kept his schooled impassivity.

"Well the next night, I turned up at the given address and was taken to a bedroom…He was called Simon and was like an angel, so beautiful for a boy, even his hair had soft curls like you'd expect with a girl. Simon had been prepared…you know, given a little something to relax him and he was just in a bath robe. Well I got undressed and we had a bath together first because I find that always relaxes them and it's a good way to get to know one another in the warm water. After, I dried him and I tried to get him to talk to me but he was so silent. I understood that, they sometimes are the first time. But I kept telling him that I wasn't going to hurt him and that we'd enjoy our time together…He was still a bit shy about touching me but I was taking my time and well…finally I wanted to penetrate him. I always use lubricant…some don't you know, but I don't think that's right. I was cuddling him on the bed and we did it. Afterwards, I held him close to me and kept telling him about how good he'd been and wiped away his tears. We fell a sleep together but when I woke up he…Simon was cold beside me…I was really shocked but Torte blamed me and said that I must have given him something. But I swear I never give kids anything…I'd not done anything to that angel…I'd not hit him, I'm never violent toward kids…I'd just loved him."

"You don't consider sodomy against an eight year old a violent act?" asked Reid with a steady cool voice.

"Look, I was gentle and took my time and treated him right and he responded and enjoyed it," protested Shields.

'Sure you did…that's what they all say," muttered Katie to herself but she was so proud of the two agents who did not rant or rave but calmly listened even if Reid's tone had cooled somewhat.

"What happened then?" Reid asked in a matter of fact voice trying to get as much information as possible.

"I was told to wrap up the body in a black garbage bag and take it to the freezer back at his garage. Torte said that I'd cost him a lot of money because they had a lot of bookings for sessions with Simon and now all those clients would be disappointed. Torte was really angry with me and said that he'd have to think carefully as to if and when I'd have access again to their special merchandise from the site. After a couple of days he'd calmed down a bit and I was allowed to buy DVDs from the site but not allowed one to one access to the live merchandise. Then those boys squealed to their Mom and she went to the police…you know the rest…"

"Is Simon's body still in the freezer?" Reid asked to get Shields back on to the Torte case again.

The prisoner looked up and his face was momentarily blank before he realised the implications of the question.

"I did as I was told and put the kid's body in the freezer but I wasn't asked to dispose of it. Perhaps Torte's got another cleaner for his dirty work by now," he replied and Katie noticed that Reid gave a slight nod of assent that she interpreted as believing the prisoner at that moment.

"How many bodies did you dump at sea?" Reid suddenly asked the prisoner who looked as if he was beginning to be lost in his own thoughts, perhaps even feeling some remorse over the death of the boy.

Shields focused on Reid once more and thought about his answer carefully.

"I can't remember," he replied tersely.

"That's convenient…Come on Shields, I don't think you're as hard as you would like us to think…So what was it …less than 10 or more than?" delved Reid watching the man's reactions carefully.

Austin Shields looked coldly at the agent opposite him, "More than!" he spat out.

"So where are the bodies buried?" Reid asked as he retraced his steps and changed tact again…

"Not saying until I have solid assurances that I'm going to be treated well and I want them from someone higher than you," the prisoner said leaning back and clenched his large hands together and that action made the muscles ripple on the massive arms. He may have intended the gesture to intimidate but the slender looking Reid merely cocked his head slightly to one side and gave a cunning cruel smile which seemed so shocking on this normally friendly young man. But Katie knew the act was deliberate in order to re-assert the upper hand.

"We'll take our time about getting back to you because you've given us a lot of detail to check out and it will give you space to think about your future. If you want to be more co-operative sooner, rather than later, then tell the Prison Director here that you want to speak to me. Then I'll see if I can find the time to come over here again," Reid calmly and quietly replied and then pushed his chair back and left the prisoner without a goodbye or further glance. Carl moved as soon as Spencer and they both left the room in a cold efficient manner. Katie had been very impressed with the pair of them and she mentally noted that she would have to remark upon the procedure of this visit in her individual assessment reports of the two agents.

Spencer Reid entered the observation room first closely followed by Carl Miyake, who closed the door behind him.

"Well, Torte's garage sounds an interesting place...that cellar had not been found when they did their search of the house after Torte's initial arrest following the closure of the venue run by Wells. Torte may not have risked disposing of any body since fearing that the house was being watched. What do you think of that reply…of 'more than'?" Spencer asked Katie without any preamble.

Katie shook her head more in sorrow than disbelief.

"Well if the syndicate has been going in some form for 4 years then there could easily be more than 10 bodies that have been disposed of at sea or buried…The trouble is we're not sure about the size and numbers of children involved. The club venues have had the adolescent girls but usually not more than 10 and mostly runaways…It's other children at the secret addresses that worries me because there are so many missing children in our country that we know of… In addition to those, there is the underclass of unknown missing that troubles me. These people have been successful so far so I bet they also have contacts with the drug runners to keep the children pliant…drugged to be manageable for their clientele," Katie said sadly, unconsciously shaking her head. "They may also be taking some of their payment in flesh…Children just being sold on by their parents to pay their debts to the drug dealers and the dealers passing them on to the syndicate as part payment for the merchandise. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened, the drug barons have no shame and sometimes have their fun first before passing on the children."

Both men were silent, each lost in their own thoughts about the interview and Katie's comments…

Katie finally walked into the CACU two hours late but she was pleased to see her people all busy as she passed through the bullpen and stopped by the kitchen to make a much-needed coffee.

Tony had just made his and smiled as she grabbed her fine china mug with a leopard prowling around the mug's outer surface.

"I just missed it!" he gleefully announced and Katie knew instantly he was referring to the accident.

"Lucky you! However, I did get to do some thinking before the constant phone calls began from people wanting to know where I was!"

"Nice to be missed Katie!" he teased.

"I even had Adam call to ask about budgeting over the next month because this outpost is looking very expensive at the moment…."

"We're not being asked to cut back are we?" Tony asked seriously as the work they did often needed a lot of man power to cover arrests and all the evidence gathering, both before and after arrests were made. They did have their successes but it was a never-ending battle to keep a sense of success against the bleak statistics they were faced with.

"No way…we were ring fenced in the cuts and we've justified our existence especially with the recent positive publicity we're had with those successful prosecutions last week and Spencer uncovering that 'adoption' scam of that mother and daughter…Now what were their names? Katie asked as she poured boiling water into the mug and stirred.

Ann-Marie Brown and her daughter, Sandra Brady," he replied sipping his own coffee.

Katie nodded and added a little milk.

"Have you seen Spencer this morning?" she asked.

"He was in very early according to the entrance security desk and I've only glimpsed him once when he emerged from the office to refill his mug," Tony replied wondering what was going on after the previous evening's activity.

"How about Danielle?"

"She's been holed up in the office after getting her morning tea…The pair of them have been as thick as two thieves so far this morning."

"Oh good…sounds as if Spencer's work has been successful ...or I'm hoping it has been," said Katie softly while moving away and Tony watched her sip her coffee on route to her own office.

However, the boss didn't make any attempt to enter the deputy's domain. Katie went and hung her coat up on the back of her office door and sank into her chair to read through the day's internal mail while she drank. It was a relief that there was nothing demanding her immediate attention and was just draining her mug when there was a brisk rap on the door.

"Come!" she invited and she was pleased to see it was Spencer looking very like an academic in a fern green cashmere sweater and brown corduroy pants. The ensemble was pulled together by a pale cream shirt that showed off the fancy silk tie that looked like random splashes of a variety of greens. Katie briefly wondered if it had been a Christmas present. But her eyes then quickly settled on the file in his large hands that his slender fingers held tight, a sure give away by his air of intensity that he had something of importance. He closed the door before sitting down and that was another sign to the Unit Chief that this was for her ears only.

"You have an air of success about you," she stated and stared into a serious face.

"Oh yeah, I was very successful but pretty tired last night so I went home and came in early today to assess my hacking expedition. The great news is that we now have a complete customer list for both the legal and illegal sales and the names of 'club members', even if they are not their real ones, but we also have their contact phone numbers. I just couldn't believe how much was down loaded last night. The site owners have very tidy minds and totally thought their site was impregnable because they even had the history of the merchandise bought and where the payment money was destined. Certain areas were protected by further passwords, of course, but once I'd broken through the initial barrier I got a feel for the site's creator so it wasn't too difficult thinking of the further passwords to access the down loaded material. I have the names of the syndicate with the proportionate distribution of their money and the bank account numbers both here and off shore. Danielle is thrilled because that is all the hard work done for her…." replied Spencer evenly.

Katie was speechless for a few moments, "All of the account details?" she repeated as if checking that she had not imagined what he had just quietly reported.

"All…I briefly told Danielle and she's on cloud nine because she now hopes to be able to put faces to the customer names and hopefully identify the clientele on Nigel's latest films and the ones that she didn't know from last time. Danielle has started separating the individual faces on Nigel's latest films this morning. Then she'll try and get images of the names on the clientele list I've downloaded...She's working like a demon next door as if breaking into that site has given her an extra boost of energy."

Katie smiled and nodded. It sounded simple but the process was time consuming for Danielle but she had done an excellent job so far and Spencer's success was a wonderful bonus for the whole case. She knew that Roy would be ecstatic with such a break through because this was solid evidence for the prosecution and she couldn't see any wriggle room for the syndicate or clientele.

"Spencer you've made our case," Katie simply stated still overwhelmed by the information that they now had to work upon. She was already thinking about which of her experienced agents she could assign to work on specific tasks with this new material.

But then she noticed that the deputy was not that happy despite this being the essential information that any investigation would long for.

"What's wrong, Spencer?" she prompted as he seemed reluctant to break into her good mood.

Dr. Reid took a deep breath and plunged on.

"I have also identified and printed off the list of Bureau employees listed on the forbidden site, along with their positions and bank account details…There was one name that particularly affected me because the man has been to my home, both here and back in Alexandria. He's in a position of trust but I couldn't see how he could afford to pay for the Torte pleasures on his salary. But he was listed as a club member where they only pay cash so it would never look suspicious if the Bureau did a spot check on his finances. I checked his buying history on the site, he never used a credit card but they had to know his real identity to attend the 'special one to one' sessions that he was allowed to pay cash for. These were for young girls, he likes them aged around 10 according to the client profile that the site has on the buying habits of its clientele."

Katie stared at him and picked up the agent's distress that he was carefully controlling, but he obviously felt a sense of betrayal.

"Is this another agent?" asked Katie carefully because she had no idea what to expect and Spencer was tip toeing round actually naming the man, perhaps because he was still coming to terms with the reality of finding the man's name.

"Jeez no but…he has contact with agents everyday through his work and, if I'm right, then he's using them to fund his perversion," Reid stated with a hint of the suppressed anger that he felt over the betrayal.

"Spencer what does he do…who is it?" Katie decided to force him to get to the point.

"A senior lab technician who works with the drug testing team called Bradley Tyler, he's been to my home," he repeated still trying to believe what he had discovered. "Jo… she made him, and his partner, welcome no matter what the hour…You know, giving them coffee and cookies to just normalise the situation because she knew that they had a job to do and just wanted to get over the embarrassment barrier."

Katie nodded in understanding but sensed there was even more to this and she was pleased when he continued without further prompting.

"I used my position to enter 'Personnel Records' and read his supervisor's reports. He's thought of very highly and was promoted to Quantico from the New York office. There has never been any reason to doubt this man's character because he has a clean record and has been well praised by all of his supervisors. The Torte site lists the contact phone numbers of their clientele and showed that Tyler has a 'pay as you go' cell phone, of course, because he couldn't risk giving them the phone number of the one issued by the Bureau. So I hacked the records of that other phone this morning because I just didn't have the time to go through the pleasantries of contacting the Telephone Company. Tyler sends a lot of text messages, always just before weekends and to Bureau staff, all of them agents…The interesting bit is that I checked the 'random testing dates for the units those people work in and guess what?"

"They coincide with a texted warning!" Katie replied feeling a certain anger rising in her.

Spencer nodded, "Usually around 8 days before a random test. One of my former colleagues receives texts from this guy," Spencer stated bleakly and Katie now fully understood the true sense of betrayal.

"I've been under going all these extra drug tests and all the time I've worked alongside someone who's probably dabbling in recreational drugs and getting away with it and…God I just feel so angry!" he finished explosively with disgust and Katie thought it was rare to see this glimpse of anger from their genius.

"Do you have the list of the Bureau people who are Torte clients?" Katie asked re-focusing Reid on the case.

"Sorry…Yeah, there are 54," replied Spencer as he opened the folder he had brought with him across his lap.

"54!" Katie replied horrified and accepted the sheet Spencer was offering her. She glanced down the list and felt at first a mixture of anger and sadness that then turned to a strengthening resolve to 'nail the bastards'.

"I need to make an appointment with the Director," she said briskly and reached for the phone on her desk.

Less than an hour later, Dr. Katie Cole and Dr Spencer Reid of the CACU sat together with the Director as he read down the 'Bureau' client list that Reid had produced. Reid watched the man who seemed to physically grow an even straighter stature with the obvious anger and revulsion he felt.

"And you say that our random drug testing is compromised aswell, Dr Reid?"

"Yes, Sir," and Spencer explained what he had found by his delving in to Bradley Tyler's other cell phone record.

"Thank God there only appears to be one rotten egg in the drug testing team. I need to believe that I can trust Richard Hincks…He has always run a good testing programme but he'll be angry when this gets to him… You've cross checked the recipients of these texts with Bureau agents?" the Director's dark eyes bore into Reid's own and the young man sensed the anger and disappointment that the Director still felt against those on the Torte client list.

"Yes, Sir, here is the list of people he sent texts to. The texts themselves appear very innocent but it's the timing of them in relation to those receiving the messages that are significant. They are always 7 to 8 days before testing…The lab technicians themselves usually have 48 hours notice but Tyler is a Senior Lab Technician so he'd know 7 to 8 days beforehand. Those taking the drugs would only be on low doses or they would risk detection. It's probably a purely recreational thing and those involved wouldn't see themselves as addicts. In fact some drug counsellors would argue that they are not addicts when compared with those who need their daily fix," Reid reported and Katie noted how very professional the agent was being this time with the Director whereas with her he had allowed some emotion to show through.

"Of course there is always the possibility that Tyler could personally be choosing 'his' agents' samples to carry out the lab tests so if one of his agents was suspect he could give a false result. I should also say that these agents do not appear at all on the Torte site...it was just Tyler," Reid further added with scrupulous thoroughness.

The Director checked down the listed calls and texts to agents that Reid had clearly produced and nodded, "Very thorough, Reid, I'm very impressed with your desire to get to the bottom of this and I can understand your disquiet where the BAU is concerned. I'm going to see if Hotch is in the building because I would like his imput on this."

The Director moved to his phone to make the necessary call. Katie caught Spencer's eye and gave him an encouraging smile. He had uncovered the Bureau's rotten eggs participating in the paedophile ring but also another scam that was going on in the Bureau itself to pay for Bradley Tyler's tastes in expensive Torte merchandise.

A few minutes later the suave Aaron Hotchner joined them and was filled in on Reid's discoveries.

"The idiot!" Hotch pronounced with suppressed anger, " But if anyone would be involved with recreational drugs, and I believe it would be only in that category, then Morgan would be the one to risk it. He has always pushed certain aspects of his life to the limit. Morgan will deny it of course, and say that the messages are all innocent and that they knew each other from his days in New York. Perhaps that is all true and he really has been clean, especially since he met Angela. I thought she was a good influence in that he seemed to be finally acting his emotional age. I hope that he is clean now, especially with his marriage on the horizon and I don't think he would put that in jeopardy. Angela herself is far too sensible to be the sort of woman to become involved in the drug and party scene that Morgan might mess with …Some how I don't think that Morgan would introduce her to that. What do you think Reid?"

"I've not met Angela but I was hoping that, like you say, she has been a good influence and perhaps all his random tests have been genuinely clean. There appear to be traces of alcohol on his drug reports but that is common with a lot of personnel and its nothing excessive. He never showed any indication when we were working on a case that he had any drugs in his system but he'd probably be very careful not to use anything if there was a chance of being called out. We do get the occasional 'stand down' periods where he might have felt safe to have what… 'E' or even coke," reasoned Reid and Hotch nodded his agreement. The Director gave them both a sour look but everyone in the room was obviously unhappy about this turn of events.

"So you think that the agents pay Tyler for their tip-off's in cash…" Hotch asked trying to take in the implications of Reid's discoveries.

"Always cash, that way nothing can be traced back via a bank account that's why I think Tyler felt he was safe with Torte because he was allowed to pay cash for what he wanted. Clients have to pay cash to get into the club venues and for the access key and code for the Torte site. I found no evidence that any of the BAU agents were Torte clients," Reid added and Hotch looked relieved but he was still seething with annoyance that Morgan had put himself under suspicion over drugs.

"What are you planning to do, Sir?" Hotch asked the Director.

The older man sighed, drink related problems he could cope with but drugs…and this blurring of the boundaries with the term 'recreational drug use' just annoyed him further. The Bureau had a very strict rule over drug abuse but then he felt a surge of understanding towards this young agent who was subjected to the extra random testing through no fault of his own.

"Well, we've obviously got to be very careful with this major paedophile ring we are trying to bring down. Reid here has got a lot of detail from the site but we haven't worked out a plan of co-ordinated action against these people yet…and I know we have to be extremely careful Hotch… There are very vulnerable children involved and we already know that they will kill them when they are difficult or no longer useful to them. I don't want to say anything to Hincks at the moment or give any indication whatsoever that we know about Tyler's activities just in case it sends the Torte syndicate underground. The slightest suspicion that we're on to them and they will disappear into a prepared bolt hole and then we'll only be left with a few small fry," the Director replied thoughtfully and mulled over the possibilities…

"I'm inclined to plant an agent in the labs…I'm sure we can find someone with a bio-chemical background who could play the role of a lab tech just to keep an eye on Tyler. It needs to be someone who has never met him and from out of the area…." said the Director who then seemed to lapse into his own thoughts for a few minutes before re-surfacing and turned on Spencer Reid again.

"Are you going to Morgan's wedding?"

Reid seemed to physically flinch as the unexpected question was shot at him.

"N- no, Sir…We had an invitation but Jo and I have booked a vacation to visit friends in England…Her Aunt and Uncle paid for the plane tickets as a wedding gift and Jo has several friends we can stay with over there. But…"

"But?" the Director jumped in on the young man's apparent doubt.

"W-We…we have a wedding present that Jo and I thought we'd take over to Morgan's house one day before we left on our trip," replied Reid suddenly unsure of just how close the Director thought he was with Morgan.

"Mmm…What have you bought them?"

"A painting, Sir," replied Reid regaining his composure.

"Ah…yes it would probably be best, and the most natural thing to do then is to deliver it yourselves…But I'm sure that you have realised that you have to be very careful, especially if we haven't acted against this paedophile ring. We'll pick up Tyler initially in that sweep and just keep an eye on him and these people in the meantime. I'll have him sent on a 'staff training' course away on the west coast for a week to allow us time to get our agent in place for when he returns."

"What are you going to do about the random drug tests?" asked Hotchner who felt that it wasn't fair that those using drugs should be able to get away with it, especially if Tyler was falsifying results.

"Perhaps I'll bring in an extra team from… Utah, just to help out with some random checking while our lab people are kept very busy. The Utah people are a good team and might enjoy a change of scenery and sight-seeing in the capital for a few days and who knows what surprises they might pick up during their stay!"

Spencer thought that the Director was enjoying the movement of 'players' on the board in the hope of catching out the drug cheats. However, he sincerely hoped that Morgan had stopped his silly hedonistic dabbling…The more Reid thought about it, the more he tried to convince himself that Morgan had probably just taken the odd tablet of 'ecstasy' and nothing more. Hotch seemed to be leaning in that direction and Reid was comforted by Hotchner's opinion.

A few minutes later, Hotch left the Director's office and as he waited for the elevator he thought that Reid was obviously unsettled by his findings concerning Tyler. Hotch thought that he'd not heard Reid stutter for a long time. The genius had not anticipated the Director's question and that made Hotch smile and re-assured him that, despite all of Reid's recent success, the incident had showed that he was still very human and not invincible. Hotchner remembered how Reid used to stutter when he was enthusiastic about something and his thoughts would race ahead of his speech. The young agent had changed so much after Hankel… After his sick leave, Reid appeared to have lost that youthful enthusiasm that had often manifested itself in the stream of endless facts that sometimes covered up the young agent's distress or Reid's eagerness to please with detail. The Reid that had returned to them was the serious man behind the harmless 'geek' mask he had previously worn. This Reid was now unafraid to be confident in his abilities and no longer needed Gideon's approval or his own for that matter. The Clinic and the psychs had sent back an agent who looked like Spencer Reid but who was probably closer to the real genius behind the mask than ever before and that for a time unsettled the unit and Reid himself. But now…Aaron Hotchner saw a capable agent who was a friend with many concerns but was still managing to keep his head above water.

"So where do you think the children might be kept?" the Director asked the two agents.

"I have Tony, Rick and Carl checking the property owned by the other members of the syndicate. We are looking for places that are remote but in good areas so they do not draw any suspicion and preferably with cellars or outbuildings where a few children could be kept isolated. I think I'd have them scattered and perhaps they are bought to venues for the special one to one appointments," Katie replied in her best business like manner.

The Director shook his head, he hated child abuse and paedophiles were the manifestation of very sick individuals hiding within normal society.

"Does Roy know you're got all of this yet?"

"No, he's in court all day, and Andrea…" replied Katie confident that the pair of them would be appreciative of Reid's abilities.

The Director suddenly flashed a smile towards Reid, "Ah yes, Andrea on the war path…and you Reid are her Knight…Good job you're married but your Jo will protect you!"

Katie giggled as Spencer felt a little uncomfortable and thought that although Andrea was single-minded when it came to justice he also felt she was utterly faithful to her marriage vows.

"I'm just glad that Andrea's on our side," Reid answered back, "I'd hate to be grilled on the stand by her…now that would be torture!"

"Oh yes, the lady takes no prisoners when she is in full flow and her righteousness drives her along where angels fear to tread…Like you say… She's on our side!" agreed the Director and then refocused.

"We have an abundance of information now but we've got to get in control of the minute details so we can carefully plan the rescue and arrest operation…Who else have you got helping Danielle?" The Director enquired of Katie, once more becoming very serious about the case.

"Besides the three men already trying to identify possible hide outs for the children, I have Amanda helping Danielle by the getting photographs of the clients from the list Spencer ran off so Danielle can use them for identifying the venue clientele. Nigel sent in some more film so Danielle had already started isolating the images for identification and she said that there were some new faces. Melanie will join Amanda when she has finished in court. Meanwhile we left Mike and Chris concentrating on trying to identify the children in the photographs for the 'one to one' special services. I think I have already identified the boy Shields called Simon, from the 'missing children' data base. If I'm correct, the boy had a heart condition so if he had been given drugs, to make him more pliable, then it probably assisted in his death," reported Katie quietly.

"Who do you think he was?" the Director asked sadly.

"Simon Lovell who disappeared on the way home from school in Clarksburg, West Virginia on October 10th. I've not said anything to the family yet because we don't have proof …and Spencer says that there is no image of a fair-haired boy called Simon amongst the present 'merchandise'. If Shields was telling the truth then the body might already have been disposed of…" Katie answered in a matter of fact voice but the Director winced despite his experience in the job.

"Barbara and Claire are working on the background of the men listed on the secret Torte site. We decided to concentrate on that now, but Spencer had already run the legitimate list against the 'secret' one and there is some correlation. It appears that Torte car spares are quite cheap compared with other sites and a lot of garages do genuinely use them for their supplies because the delivery service is reliable. It all gives a good impression to any law enforcement scrutiny…Just like Wallace Torte was claiming, he runs a legal business and denies knowing about Wells and his illegal club venue."

The Director listened carefully and then turned to the acting Deputy.

"These names…Reid, I'm appalled…and you think this NSA man might have set up the website?" he suddenly asked looking up from the sheaf of papers listing names and addresses in his hand.

"Yes, Sir, you see it was very sophisticated and had excellent security features, the type that are often found within National Security sites and there is the link with the lawyer in this building."

The Director nodded, "Yes... the lawyer and a brother who conveniently works in the NSA cryptography division…You are sure that he's a client too?"

"Yes, Sir and has bought DVDs and special personal services,"

"Bastards!" the Director muttered fiercely, "The pair of them bought the special services?"

"Yes, Sir," replied Reid crisply and would even reel of the dates if needed because it was all recorded on the 'customer' base.

"I'm going to have to tell the President, but I will need you to prepare a report of the personnel involved in the Security Services, the Senate and Congress and the inner workings of the White House. Then there are the doctors, judges, lawyers, military personnel and well-known Washington dignitaries…the husbands of the ladies who lunch… To think I sit down with so many of these people at charity events and they have such high profiles in the media…"

"Sir, I think it might be best to keep the President out of the loop…We can't risk anyone realising we have broken the security of the Torte site. I can totally trust my people and I would never doubt Hotch's integrity…But…Not that I don't trust the President, but I think we could argue a case that the President doesn't need to know until we have actually begun to sweep them up… Then the President can honestly tell the public that he was kept in the dark to prevent anyone tipping off any big name…As far as I'm concerned no body, absolutely no body, is above the law!" finished Katie vehemently and Spencer nodded his agreement.

The Director stared hard at his two agents and weighed up Katie's words carefully.

"Christ…This is one hell of a cess pool!" the Director exclaimed.

"Yes, Sir, and I want to clean it up and just because we have some big names on this clientele list doesn't mean that we shouldn't go for them. It will shake some institutions but this is why I do my job and why I took the oath to be an agent."

"Pax, Katie…Pax!" the older man replied and felt proud to be in the presence of this fearless pair, "I'll not say anything yet…and I'll discuss the timing with you."

"Thank you, Sir," Katie replied in a more conciliatory tone but Spencer sensed that she was in the mood to fight her corner and thought that Katie and Andrea together would be pretty terrifying.

As they left the Director's office, Spencer asked his immediate boss what she wanted him to do when they got back.

"Help the men try to pin point the possible sites for holding the children and where they might hold the special one to one appointments. If need be we can go and lean on Shields, and perhaps we should take Roy with us as the prosecutor. Afterall, he wanted your superior to give him assurances so I'll pay him a visit but I'd prefer you to be there aswell because you're done a lot of the work and know the man." Katie said softly as they rode the elevator on their own down to the street level.

Six hours later, Katie sat with her two deputies discussing their progress.

"Melanie joined us at 3:00 and got stuck in getting photographs of the real identities of the men…Amanda had got 105 faces for ID purposes and Melanie added her own total of 60 by the time they went home at six. They were pretty tired by then and they'll continue tomorrow with the remainder but they have worked really well at getting almost half way through those names. Of course, some are easier than others, but its quite a shock when you come across well known Washington insiders, they were quite subdued by the time they left...

I've isolated images of children and adults on one of the films Nigel sent in. Some seemed familiar from other images we have but others were new to me although I thought I recognised an art historian from the National Gallery of Art…" reported Danielle.

"How have the men been getting on?" the Unit Chief turned on the male deputy.

"Working well isolating the images, Chris on the 'boys' and Mike on the girls…"

The phone cut in and Katie looked annoyed but then saw the caller ID.

"Sorry Spencer, I have to answer this," she said and picked up the receiver.

"Katie Cole…Yes Sir, they're with me…Oh God we're in real trouble now!"

End of Chapter 21


	22. Chapter 22

**The Interregnum: Chapter 22**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Author's Note: Real life took an unexpected turn and I've had to take time out to look after myself, however, I finally got this typed up…little by little!**

"Oh God we're in real trouble now!"

The two deputies exchanged worried glances. Katie sounded dispirited after such a good lift to the day with the material that the hacking had produced. They watched their Unit Chief; her hand kept sweeping through her hair in nervous agitation as she listened to the caller. She did not look their way but seemed to be staring at the desk top before her with a grim facial expression…

"Yes, Do you think you will be able to keep a lid on this? …Well I'll have to pull all my people in and make this a priority…I don't know… I'll discuss it with them and get back to you …Yes Sir… I understand and I will have help over the co-ordination across the Field Offices? Thank you … We need experienced people to make the best of this awkward situation. Oh that will be wonderful… Yes I have every confidence in him… Thank you, Sir, I will brief my deputies now of the situation and get things moving this end, " Katie put the receiver down and blew out the frustration and pent up tension she was feeling before raising her brown eyes to stare at her attentive deputies.

"That was the Director…Our mole, Thomas Tennison, has committed suicide; he drove his car out to Indian Creek Park and shot himself in the head. Fortunately his tail got to him within seconds and the Director is trying to pull a veil of secrecy over this. The car and body have already been discreetly removed; Tennison's body is to be sent, via the Director's jet, to a 'safe' path lab outside the area for the autopsy. The 'tail' has taken charge of the suicide note. Fortunately, his wife is visiting family in New York and the sons are away at university so we can say that he has been called away on urgent Bureau business. It will give us a few days at the most but basically we are going to have to move very quickly now instead of the carefully crafted plans we thought we were going to have time to play with…

Trusted agents have been sent to Tennison's family home to discreetly go through it with a fine toothcomb to see if there is anything that connects with the case. Tennison's personal home computer is going to be sent to us so we can see if there is anything on it. I suspect that it will probably only confirm his status as one of the Torte site clientele but we may get lucky with something unexpected. The agents have already been briefed to look for the innocent looking flash drive; he's bound to have one somewhere... Tennison's office was searched thoroughly as soon as we got suspicious and again when you identified the possible 'key' but no flash drive with scenes of New England in the Fall was found…" Katie seemed distracted as she let her thoughts ramble on a little.

Spencer felt immediately uneasy, the Indian Creek Park was near Berwyn Heights and not far from College Park. He wondered if Tennison had been on his way to talk to Roy, or even Katie, and then he changed his mind. Then Danielle's voice cut across his thoughts…

"But what happened to have triggered this reaction?" asked Danielle and she knew that she interjected for Spencer as well as her own curiosity.

"Tennison seems to have had a phone call from a man called Kevin about an hour before he drove out to the beauty spot…and yes it was recorded!" Katie stated triumphantly, " We'll be receiving a copy and as much detail as possible from John Maskin who has been running the operation to keep Tennison carefully watched. Maskin's on his way… the Director chose him because he has considerable experience dealing with delicate security matters. Also, Aaron Hotchner is being contacted to help me with some of the massive co-ordination of agents across several states because he has wide experience of working across Field Offices from his counter terrorism days. The Director is going to personally brief him before he comes here."

Danielle glanced across to Spencer and raised an elegantly plucked eyebrow at her colleague whose eyes seemed to shine with anticipation. She had been introduced to Hotchner when he dropped by the unit after Christmas but she had been busy with her work and the conversation, although friendly, had been brief.

"Your old boss…he's that good?" she asked softly and was rewarded with a beam of confidence from the younger agent.

"I've learnt a lot from Hotch and he's very diplomatic, but Katie used to know him from his initial work with the BAU before he was sent to Seattle."

"Oh yes…Hotch is one hell of a G man! Spencer modelled his press conference persona on Hotch," Katie added with a rare smile to break the tension of the dreadful news. However, she knew that they had to turn their minds to the situation before them and she suddenly sighed before seriously adding,

"Anyway, this all means that we've got to radically change our plans now. If this gets out the syndicate could get scared and we've got to pull out all the stops so we can rescue those children and take as many of those syndicate names, and the Torte clientele list, as we can in the initial arrests.

Spencer, John Maskin has asked for your help to get him up to speed with all you and Danielle have been doing to date. Excuse me while I tell the desk to put out the general recall…." Katie said and then busied herself with efficiently passing on her orders to Betsy Voss who was covering the 'operations desk' for the later shift.

Katie Cole then turned her attention once more on her deputies, "Now back to you, Spencer. I need to know what you men have been up to and if you're any nearer identifying where these children might be held?"

Spencer swallowed and plunged ahead with the report of the state of play that had been interrupted by the Director's call.

" We compared the payments received by the syndicate members and the venue details of the dates held and numbers that attended. The syndicate is organised on a 'state-wide' basis. There was someone acting in charge of each venue in the states involved and this controller passed a portion of the venue money to the main syndicate pot. The syndicate seems to be held together by the Tortes because the different controllers for each state report back to Wallace Torte. However, his wife is obviously involved because she sometimes sends out replies to confirm venues and details of the 'merchandise' that will be attending. The Tortes have used their internet site to make the most of the 'live merchandise' the individual states had to offer for the clientele. Some venues were more popular because they were more easily accessible being closer to the capital region.

However, besides the cut of the entrance fee that went into the 'syndicate pot', there are other amounts that the state controllers could hold back but it was all meticulously listed under headings so that the Tortes and other syndicate members could see where the money was going. We very quickly identified payments that went to the 'cell phone contacts' for their services of contacting clients with the precise venue details. These were meticulously listed with their contact cell numbers alongside their 'contact names' and their real names so double checking was easy. The most common of the amounts were just marked up as 'sundries', which the controller of each state could hold back, and we suspect pays for the children's accommodation.

Another category was listed as 'transport costs'. We simply believe that this was actually for taking a child, or children, to a particular venue for 'special services' because there is e-mail evidence that links the timing with these payments and the venues held. The syndicate appears to have some trusted people who were regularly used for transportation purposes, although some of the controllers drove the children themselves and therefore made extra money by providing this service. Rick said that Henley Linkner, who controls the North Carolina venues, obviously likes keeping an eye on his 'merchandise' because he always pockets the 'transport' cost himself.

Meanwhile, I believe that there is a strong possibility that some children may be held at a farmhouse in West Virginia and a country estate on the outskirts of Frederick, Maryland. Rick noted that extra money was going to certain syndicate members associated with these addresses, along with a few other names and their property. These extra payments may be to cover for the additional problems of housing the more difficult or older children. We're assuming that they would have to be kept more secure than very young ones…like the pre 5s…and probably involves a certain amount of drugs to keep them pliable. So I think the payment listed as 'other various sundries' covers the cost of drugs. Rick compiled a list and Robert was working on the background of these names…all of them, by the way, are listed on the Torte site as special customers.

I'm interested that it was a Kevin who had been talking to Tennison and if his phone number matches then we may be able to make an even stronger case against this man I have in mind. The Kevin I'm thinking of seems to be a person of influence within the syndicate with contacts across the states and sometimes acts as a trusted contact to pass on the exact details of the venues. I believe that he's also one of the controllers for Virginia. But he may also be the same Kevin of the Vikki murder case from early December…You know… the one that got away. If I'm correct, then his real name is Julian Kevin Logan of Richmond, Virginia, a bank manager of the Premier National in Richmond. He's married to Valerie, a private piano teacher and she works out of the family home. They have three children, two girls aged 6 and 4 and a son aged 18 months."

The two women nodded each remembering the case of the still unidentified child who had never regained consciousness from her drugged state. Neither made any attempt to interrupt Reid's account so he continued.

"Several people on the Torte site also have bought property through Logan's bank and three of these are people Rick has identified as 'people of interest' because they had received 'various sundries' payments that he's been following up. These properties are all in more isolated positions, immediate neighbours being at least half a mile away. We believe that the first of these suspects, Nicholas Zenthon, is keeping some children at his house, about 20 miles north of Richmond. Logan pays him money from the Virginia syndicate pot for 'sundries' and 'other various sundries'. Robert was working on the backgrounds of the other two suspects from this line of enquiry, James Galt and Howard Lindass, but that's as far as we got with that thread before I came in here. However, we believe these two are also syndicate members and act as controllers at some of the venues. It would appear that they are also keeping some of the children because they also receive 'sundries' payments.

Chris and Mike were doing better with identifying the children, and like you thought Katie, we have identified 19 from the 'missing' register. These children have been taken from well out of the area so even if they did manage to escape they would be very disorientated. But of these, 5 are under school age so they are very young and probably don't have any idea about escaping anyway. Chris reckons he's identified one boy who would now be around 7 but he went missing 3 years ago. He had a distinctive birthmark on his shoulder and that is very visible on the site photographs. He used the ageing techniques on the boy's original 'missing photograph' and it's too close for comfort."

"Who does Chris think he is?" asked Katie and Spencer wondered if she memorised certain names of the missing that came across her desk.

"Darren Cantor, he disappeared from Santa Monica while on a picnic with his family. The Cantor children were playing hide and seek around the picnic area when Darren disappeared," Spencer explained and noted that the name and circumstances of his disappearance didn't surprise his boss. Katie nodded sadly but gave no further comment so Spencer ploughed on.

"This would seem to confirm what Shields told us about his working for the syndicate for 4 years. However, that still leaves a lot of images that have not been identified yet. There are 20 boys altogether whose ages seem to be from around 4 to 10 from the 'special services' section. Alongside these there are 38 girls who visually look to be aged from 3 through to 12, the majority being around the 9 plus mark. But these 58 children are scattered across six states that are themselves run by the different syndicate controllers. Our main problem is that we have only identified 19 children by the time I left them," Spencer reported crisply but his large doe like eyes betrayed the sorrow that the man felt for the plight of these youngsters.

"How many syndicate members are really in control of the running of the activities?" Katie asked.

"There are 3 in Virginia and 1 in West Virginia. Maryland has 2, not counting the late Brian Rankin. Delaware has 2 controllers of their state. The Philadelphia area has 2, or more likely 3, because I believe that Lisa Torte is involved in the managing of the children," Spencer broke off as he saw Danielle's eyes widen at that statement.

"That's the second time you've stated that she's directly involved, are you sure?" Danielle asked because being a mother herself she felt it went against a woman's nurturing instincts despite the years she had worked at the CACU.

"The money from the Pennsylvanian syndicate venues goes to an off shore account in the Cayman Islands in the joint names of Wallace and Lisa Torte. But they also have separate accounts in the Bahamas which have regular deposits transferred to them and this comes from both the legitimate Torte Spares site and their illegal activities. The Tortes also obviously take a greater share of the money from the Torte site but they pay the different 'controllers' well for the use of their merchandise. So controllers receive a fee for photographic and film material when ordered but, of course, the largest fees are for the 'special services'. The Torte's have a substantial income but they also pay out a large retainer to Vincent Tennison, Thomas Tennison's brother, who has been working for the National Security Agency for nearly 20 years."

Suddenly Danielle again interjected, "Sorry, but the names are beginning to a get a bit muddled. Now he's the guy with the computer expertise who you think set up the secure site for the Tortes?" Danielle asked for clarification as she forced her sluggish brain to get into gear. She knew these names but suddenly they were blurring into one as she lost the plot with her tiredness and needed to be reminded just where these key players were all slotting in. Danielle didn't like this unusual sluggish feeling that was sweeping over her. Perhaps, she reasoned with herself, that it was all because she had been sleeping badly for over a week now and there had been a pick up in the pace of work recently.

"Are you all right?" Katie asked scrutinising her deputy with concern.

"Yeah…its just when you're pregnant you have these odd occasions when you come over really tired, but it will pass as quickly as it came. Sorry, Spencer, but I was just making sure in my own mind that I was following the thread," Danielle re-assured flashing her two colleagues a warm smile and focused her attention upon the genius in their midst, "Please carry on…you were saying that Vincent Tennison is the computer expert."

Spencer nodded but he also felt unsure about the realities of working with a pregnant colleague. This was the first time that Danielle had shown any real mental fatigue since he had joined this unit and this behaviour was in marked contrast to the usual confident and quick-witted person he had become accustomed to working with. He pushed the kernel of concern to the back of his mind and picked up where he'd left off…

"Yes, he's the only person who would have had that expertise and from what I can tell he has tried very hard to hide the money he's received from the Tortes. I have managed to break through his personalised 'firewall' defences and I've down loaded his personal computer memory banks. I know that he has set himself up with three different identities, each with a substantial bank account. I've not had time to detail all the material and there might be more than three 'escape routes' that he has established for himself. You felt the identification of the children was the priority and I thought I'd have more time to build a water tight case against Vincent Tennison," Spencer confessed seeing Katie's surprised expression.

Katie Cole couldn't mask her amazement because she had not realised just how far Reid had gone in his delving.

"When did you do all this?" Katie probed and yet again felt out of her depth at the reality of having a true genius working in her unit.

"As soon as I broke the 'security barriers' he had written into the Torte site. If you know the cryptographer's work then you can work out his familiar tactics. Let's say that familiarity breeds contempt. Vincent Tennison is very good which is why he holds his NSA position and the site he created for the Tortes is one that most forensic computer experts would have found difficult to break into and discover all its secrets. However… once an expert cryptographer creates a code then there is always the possibility that another man will eventually find a way of ultimately breaking it. But shall I continue with explaining about the controllers for the different states?" asked Spencer annoyed with himself for digressing into the Tennison connection.

"Yes, sorry, but I'd not realised just how far you had got with him," Katie replied still perplexed, "When were you going to fill us in with what you knew about Vincent Tennison?"

"When I was sure that I had all the details…Like I said, I've discovered three other identities he has set up for himself and there might be more…I began to think that it was becoming a game for this man. He liked to create an identity and falsify official computerised records for his own use…"

"Oh God! It doesn't bare thinking about too deeply. He has really done this…three identities?" Danielle asked looking troubled as her mind began to ponder upon the wider ramifications of Vincent Tennison's actions, "I mean just how easy is it to change official computerised records?"

"Very!" Spencer replied succinctly but he didn't want to go into that sort of detail and in court this aspect of the case would be something that the government would not like to be openly discussed in any great depth either. Creating a convincing new identity was something that was done for special security reasons but Spencer was grateful that he was not the lawyer and part of him had wondered how they were going to proceed against Tennison. Reid had briefly thought back to the case of Bruno Hawks and the BAU's brief contact with the CIA. It had been a case that had opened his eyes to another side of Gideon and all that it had implied about Gideon's extra work outside the unit. But ultimately the CIA had dealt with it's own bad egg and Reid felt that the NSA would also prefer to deal quietly with their own problem within their closed ranks.

Katie suddenly interrupted his thoughts, "Spencer, lets continue with the Torte syndicate for now. The NSA will have their own problems to resolve over their operative."

Reid nodded grateful to move back to explaining what they had found about the organisation.

"North Carolina has one person, Henley Linkner, controlling the venues but two people, Joel Maddox and Thomas Dewar, are being paid for sundries. Both of these men have female partners and live in more isolated properties so neighbours wouldn't know about comings and goings at the houses. We think these houses are also used for the 'special services' venues because of references to 'dinner party expenses'," reported Reid but there was a hint of disgust in his voice despite his desire to keep the details as neutral as possible.

Reid caught Katie's eye but there was no censure in her observant brown eyes. Spencer noted the controlled compassion and sadness of the senior agent who had seen far too much child abuse in one form or another and understood the inherent revulsion that a normal decent person would feel. Katie gave him a slight nod of re-assurance and Spencer mentally shook himself to stop the decent into wallowing in the awfulness of the children's plight. Reid silently chided himself; he had an important job to do and that was to help with the rescue of these badly traumatised children so he firmly got himself back on track.

"Maryland has a married couple in their 50s still running the venues now Rankin is out of things. This apparently retired respectable couple call themselves Anthony and Gina Thorpe but their real name names are Ginette and Anton Taubel. They previously owned a residential home for the elderly that was closed down 6 years ago by the authorities in L.A. for not meeting statutory regulations over staffing levels. Basically, they were running the place on a shoestring and they claimed they couldn't get staff for what they could afford to pay them. The residential running costs were kept down to attract residents to the home in a poorer part of the city. There seems to have been some very convoluted legal moves and nothing came to a prosecution because it was claimed that the couple was providing a much-needed social service at the lower end of the market. It looks like a deal was struck to prevent a long and costly drawn out case for the authorities when they had experienced budget cuts."

"Typical!" muttered Danielle under her breath but Reid ploughed on with the present details.

"The Thorpes are paying for two 'house minder' couples from the Maryland 'sundries' account. The first of these couples are Martine and Paul De Ritter and they have a large farmhouse as a home and a smaller farm house, at the entrance to their dairy farm, that is used as a small dairy to provide organic produce for the immediate area. This small dairy employs four people in the production of yoghurt, whole milk and organic ice cream that several small restaurants and delis in the Baltimore and Annapolis areas have taken up. It all looks like a legitimate small business on the surface and a perfect cover with the employees being kept well away from the main home. None of the employees, or their families, are on the Torte special clientele list although three of them have ordered genuine car spares from the Torte site.

The other 'house minders' are Sonia and Eric Watts, both in their early 30s, who work freelance in 'web site' design. They have inherited a large house that once belonged to Sonia's grandfather in Frederick County. They work from home and the isolated position of the house is ideal for the concealment of children and is used as a 'special venue' for high paying clients."

"Oh Christ!" muttered Danielle as she protectively rubbed her swollen belly, "I just can't believe that these people would hire out their homes for the organised abuse of children…all to satisfy the fantasies of a sick minded clientele."

"Yeah, its sickening isn't it! But breaking down the payments to these people indicates that this is all happening. I do have at least fourteen incriminating references in e-mails to these 'venue' houses…All disguised, of course, as legitimate dinner invites or business meetings if at the Watts home. The Torte site owners thought that with Tennison they had such an impregnable system that they would occasionally send out details of the special dates and site addresses for their personal services to regular special clients. For new or relatively new clients, once payment was received for a special service, then an e-mail was sent saying to contact a cell phone for confirmation of date, time and specific venue address. However, the e-mail would indicate the chosen state for the venue. All the cell phone numbers are stored behind security codes but I've broken into the 'secure storage' areas within the site so its all been easily cross referenced. They were so efficient in their book keeping that even after the special appointments were kept then a confirmation e-mail was sent to the Torte site to say 'the business had been satisfactorily concluded'…"

"Oh God…I want to hang these monsters up by their fingertips and slowly roast them over a fire pit…just to give them some impression of the burning fires of hell!" Danielle replied with a vehement iciness to her voice. It suddenly reminded Spencer that ice burns.

"That's too good for them…talk about over-confidence! But their arrogance in believing that they had a secure web site has been their downfall…Personally, staking them out naked in the desert and letting scorpions loose to crawl over them just might unsettle that smugness!" Katie stated firmly.

"Ladies!" said Spencer mildly, "I must remember not to cross either of you," and he was rewarded with two pairs of dark eyes staring at him with a shared fierce righteous anger.

"Are you going to have enough evidence pulled together over the next couple of days so we can hold these people once we arrest them?" Katie asked hoping that they would still be able to make a strong case despite the unexpected turn of events.

"Yes, I left Tony preparing to cross reference the children's names with the venues and the transportation details to see if we can identify the most likely properties they are being held at from this data. The cross referencing with the 'activities' has to be doubled checked carefully because some children have similar 'merchandise' names although their ages and physical characteristics are different… but we are beginning to get consistent results. The children are not necessarily housed all together in an area but it looks as if some are kept isolated with people the local controllers trust. Rick and Robert are being very good at logging everything as they go so the details they find are easily accessible to the rest of the researchers on this case. Likewise, Tony and Carl have done well on identifying the property side. I left Carl double-checking the property information from the sundries payments before logging it and when he's finished that then he'll return to helping Tony with his present task.

I thought that we could organise the evidence by concentrating on each state, now we are confident about how the syndicate basically works. The list of clientele details has been printed off as per state to be checked. Chloe and Janice were organising the printed sheets into separate folders for each client to be passed on to be checked. Once checked it comes back to my domain for other completed and checked details to be added. The completed files are then passed onto Zara and Lynnette who are filling out the legal forms."

"Good, tackling the mass of details by 'state' seems be the most sensible approach especially as the arrests will be organised on a 'state' basis. What matters is the detail of evidence and that it is carefully checked. Spencer, can you work with the overview of the Torte Empire and keep an eye on how these groups mesh together and make sure that the data is being utilised efficiently and logged consistently...it will all help the legal moves run smoothly.

Danielle, I want you to finish the identification of the clients on the film material. Then you can co-ordinate the identification of the children on the films, with the Torte site material and houses where they are possibly held. Tony and Carl can help you to integrate their details about the suspect properties. We must identify where the children are being held so we can allocate the correct resources for the rescue procedure.

We need to consider carefully the logistics of how to deal with the children once they are rescued so I will concentrate on this angle myself …I've a good working relationship with the children's social services and psychological provision for distressed children in these states… There is going to be a lot of psychological support needed for these children and their families. Lets hope that we can identify the majority of them and keep them out of the glare of publicity.

John Maskin will be here within the hour and he'll make a beeline for you Spencer. Meanwhile, I'll brief the agents I've recalled…It's going to be a pressured few days but we have to make the most of the unfortunate turn of events. "

John Maskin was not a particularly tall man but he was broad shouldered and stood around 5 foot 10 inches however, he possessed an imposing presence that oozed authority and people automatically thought him larger than life. Maskin was a career agent and now, in his late 50's, he was a trusted deputy to the Director. It was commonly rumoured in the Bureau that Maskin knew about the buried bodies as much as Max Pentall. John Maskin was deeply respected for his work and he had experienced many departments on his way up the career ladder.

He now entered the CACU, dressed in his customary immaculate dark charcoal suit and pristine white shirt. The sober silk tie with its fine stripes in dark blue and black only emphasised the authoritarian air about him. Maskin's step was a little stiff and rolling into a slight limp, all the consequence of a badly broken leg while working in the field, a decade before, which had required a metal plate to assist the healing. As he now aged, the limp was becoming more pronounced but it all added to the image of this famous agent. His craggy features were a testament to the 25 years of Bureau experience but the alert dark eyes also shone with a dedication to the work and many who had worked under him would also speak of the humour that also sometimes twinkled from the steady gaze.

Dee had been recalled and looked up from the reception desk and automatically straightened her back and became serious in this man's presence.

"Good evening, Sir, Dr Reid is awaiting you in room 4 C along the corridor to your left," she said crisply not daring to allow her usual flirtatious nature to bubble to the surface.

Maskin solemnly eyed her and Dee felt like a naughty little girl before a stern father figure. She could feel her heart beating a little faster and hoped that he would not find fault in her appearance, as he was known for being a stickler about the 'dress code'. However, he suddenly gave a tiny smile that added a few more lines to the face.

"Thank you," Maskin said in a deep quiet voice and with a slight nod of acknowledgement and then turned to make his way towards room 4C.

Maskin was pleased than he would have the chance to observe Spencer Reid working a case at close quarters. He had been on the Admissions Panel that had discussed bending the rules to admit Reid early. Gideon's argument was that a true genius was rare and this man would be snapped up quickly if the Bureau were not prepared to utilise the natural gifts that he was offering them. Maskin had read Reid's last doctoral thesis and was very impressed then and even more so since he had read Reid's latest book. Max had been adamant about breaking Gideon's control over the agent's training especially after the unfortunate events of being kidnapped and tortured in the field, an event that could have broken even an experienced agent. However, this young man had come through the experience and if anything, by surviving the ordeal, he had revealed a steady maturity that had been implied in his research and was far beyond his years. Reid had stepped up to the acting deputy position the Bureau had placed him and had become a name in the media during the brief time he had been with the CACU.

This present case had suddenly taken a dramatic turn because of Reid's abilities to see many threads and to draw them all together into a coherent picture. This agent's computing abilities had been suspected but his recent actions, with the Torte site, had revealed considerable talents that Reid had not been openly flaunting. All of this had not escaped the attention of the Director who had begun to consider the possibility, discussed with Maskin, that Dr. Reid might be wasted in the BAU and these other talents could be utilised in other important areas concerning National Security and Counter Terrorism. But as Maskin stood before the closed door he swept these thoughts aside and cleared his mind to concentrate on the case in hand. He raised his right hand and rapped the door briskly before entering.

An hour later, John Maskin felt totally appraised of the case. He was impressed with Reid's grasp of detail and need to have concrete evidence easily on hand to prevent any of those arrested getting bail or being able to wriggle off the hook by a technicality. Maskin left the young deputy to continue his work while he went to find Katie in her office.

"The last time I saw Reid he was stuttering and nervously fidgeting but Max was right about giving him space to grow away from the BAU…" Maskin said as he drank coffee with Katie.

"Fascinating isn't it? I noticed when he worked a case with us before his kidnapping that he sometimes stuttered when his thoughts raced ahead of the actual speech and his little nervous mannerism but here…he's different. I know there was the kidnapping but he now seems unafraid to be the genius he really is…I think Max and his people did a good job with him because I suspect some of that stuttering was a subconscious reaction to suppressing his real personality. Max told me that Spencer didn't want to annoy people or frighten them with his intelligence because he'd been badly bullied within the public schooling system. Mmm…" a recent incident suddenly sprang to mind, "the Director did make him stutter a little earlier today though but that was over an unexpected personal question concerning Derek Morgan."

"Oh…Morgan, he's a flashy character…" muttered Maskin thoughtfully but then changed direction not wanting to digress into that area, "I'm just pleased that Reid has come through all those drug tests as clean since his detox at the hospital in Georgia. I know the Clinic helped him with the cravings during the early weeks he was there but, in the end, it has to be the patient themsleves who wants to conquer drugs of any kind," said Maskin quietly and stared intently at Katie.

Katie suddenly felt uncomfortable under the gaze of this man but she was aware that he was referring to her own brush with alcohol.

"I agree," she concurred, "I'm grateful that there were caring people around me to stop my slide into becoming a drunk."

John Maskin nodded, "I too had the good fortune to have caring colleagues before my career was ruined by the bottle," he confided.

Katie was surprised because she had never thought that this paragon of the Bureau could have also experienced the lure of alcohol to ease the problems of the job.

Maskin's face suddenly softened and the dark eyes lit up making him look years younger,

"It can happen to the best of us, but the Bureau understands the problems of drinking and is forgiving if you respond to the efforts they put into place for you. But if you slip into the bad ways after, then they will not be so accommodating. I chose my career after my wakeup call and brief spell at the clinic. There are several of us agents who meet to support one another over coffee and if you ever want to join us then you will be welcome Katie. You will find that we are very discreet and you will not be the only woman there. The common denominator is that we are all senior agents with managerial responsibilities so our coffee meetings never arouse suspicion. To an outsider, we are just meeting to discuss Bureau business across various units and disciplines…"

Katie was for a few moments quite speechless, this was an unexpected conversation but Max had obviously had to tell the Director and…"

"Yes, the Director told me this evening and he was concerned that this case might put a lot of pressure on you too soon after your Christmas bout of 'flu and he doesn't want to lose your abilities. We are very discreet, Katie, and all of us have known the loneliness and the pressures of leading a large team and taking the responsibility when things go wrong. We know how it's very easy to have the relaxing glass of something when we get home but that one glass can slip into two then three…Mine was whisky, typical male poison!"

Katie smiled at the admission, "Mine, sweet sherry…more of a typical female than I was willing to believe."

The two agents smiled at each other sharing a new understanding and with it a deeper trust of knowing they had a weakness that they kept under control.

Then suddenly the personal moment was gone and John Maskin launched into the present case.

"Reid has done an excellent job. He's broken the Torte site wide open and is amassing a mountain of evidence and I believe that he has already more than enough to get us arrest and search warrants. However, the Director is being very careful about the judiciary because there are some well known judges using the special mail order facility even if they have not indulged in the personal services."

"I know it's a toxic sea of vipers, many of which are big in their careers and who will be trying very hard to pull in favours to wriggle out of this. Spencer got those credit card details from the site and we are carefully double checking it all but so far everything from that Torte site rings true for the clientele's personal details. But I believe Spencer was more upset about finding the Bureau staff involved, especially over that technician from the drug testing squad."

"Yes…The Director's furious over that and is determined to nail Bradley Tyler and he'd like to catch out those on his contact list for the alert text messages. I gather that is how Hotch got initially pulled into this…"

Katie nodded, "Agent Morgan can be fool at times but he wouldn't be the first person in a good career to think that recreational drugs are not a serious matter. The Bureau's policy is very clear and if he ever has a doubtful test the Director will kick him out and that will be the end of his pension and his standing as an agent for getting future work. Hotch seemed quite detached about Morgan considering that Hotch persuaded the Bureau to give that Garcia woman a second chance! However, Spencer told me that she has been more circumspect about her friendship with Morgan since almost losing her career and has taken steps to re-build her status within the computing structure again…"

Maskin sipped his coffee thoughtfully and then added, "Oh yes, Penelope Garcia has been helping the White Collar Crime Division because of a major case they are building and the word from that area is they would like to borrow her permanently!"

Katie's eyes widened, "I can't see Erin Strauss letting such a talented operative go so easily, especially if Garcia has re-built the trust."

Maskin chuckled at the thought, Strauss was a woman who could fight hard when it came to 'turf wars' and personnel. "We live in interesting times! However, we digress… I'm glad we're getting Hotch in on this case. We'll need Hotch to help with the actual 'arrest and securing of evidence over such a wide area. He has superb managerial skills and his prosecutor background is invaluable if the prestigious names and their lawyers begin to get awkward. Hotch also has that steely calmness that we need on this emotive case."

Katie nodded, "Yes, we're been working it for a long time now and it's taking its toll on all of us here. Every computer console is busy at the moment. All of my people are aware of the urgency along with the need for absolute secrecy and accuracy in this case. The net we cast has to get the biggest number of suspects on the first trawl and preferably the biggest fish not just the minnows!" Katie stated fiercely and Maskin felt a blast of her passion for justice that was regularly witnessed by all who worked alongside her in the CACU.

Maskin soothed, "The Director is very aware of the importance of this case and he's even got a team of senior trusted agents double checking the agents at the Field Offices we are going to use on the sweep raids. We are trying to prevent any tip offs and the sensitivity of some of the clients' career and social positions will be shark bait for the hungry media so we have to keep this all quiet. The working premise is that no one is to be told the truth at the Field Offices until just before we make a co-ordinated move. They will only be warned that they are to be involved in a sweep of arrests but certainly no impression is going to be given that it is a CACU case to reduce the risks of alerting the media or something leaking out to scare these people. The Director would prefer that not even the Agents in Charge of the Field Offices should know the type of case until the moment they get the arrest and search warrants."

Katie nodded thoughtfully and was grateful for the Director trying to keep a tight rein on the details until absolutely necessary. The Unit Chief was confident about her personnel because there was the unspoken understanding that if anyone gave away any information that could jeopardise any case then they were moved and alongside that was the stigma of not being trusted enough to work her unit. Such a stigma was tantamount to career suicide.

"This is the biggest case I've ever handled. It's also the most explosive for the fall out amongst the Washington elite and the high status of some of those under suspicion," Katie confessed and yet there was a certain suppressed excitement that the case was moving into the endgame even if it had come sooner than anticipated. But then she had to ask a nagging question of her superior.

"I did want to ask you more about Tennison's suicide…it was so close to us," stated Katie revealing how troubled she remained about the turn of events that evening.

Maskin nodded gravely, "Yes, Reid remarked that he was unsettled by the fact that it was Indian Creek Park. The note doesn't help us, it was very vague…'I'm in too deep and can't see a way out. I'm sorry, please forgive me'," recalled Maskin. "The phone call he had with Kevin was basically about the syndicate needing to know where Austin Shields had been taken. But I'll play you and your deputies the recording when Hotch gets here."

There was a knock on the office door that broke into their thoughts.

"Come!" Katie commanded and the rounded solid figure of Roy strode confidently into the room.

He nodded an acknowledgement to the pair of them and didn't waste his words.

"Well Reid has attacked this with his usual very tidy mind. Each suspect has a separate file with their personal details, credit details from the Torte sight, a printed history of Torte merchandise…I hate that expression…" he muttered but then continued, "All the dates of purchases and special personal services are clearly listed. That site was so methodical, as Reid said, he had just had to go down the client list and print out all the details they kept in such an organised fashion.

Danielle and her little team are adding their details about the clientele… the photographs and references to venues attended are all being placed in Reid's files. Claire and Deanna are transferring the details from Danielle's domain to Spencer's in 4C. It's all meticulous work but it's our whole case…Thank god we have Reid with us because I'm not sure our computer forensic people would have broken all the passwords to get into those encrypted files. What he has got is irrefutable… absolutely priceless evidence!" Roy enthused about what he'd witnessed during his time in room 4C.

"Well Spencer Reid's a genius and this just shows us something of what he's capable of…" Katie replied, "I'm just glad that I got my way when I requested his secondment here."

"You're sure it's going to be enough?" Maskin asked Roy just to finally settle his own mind so he could report confidently back to the Director.

"Oh yes, its just so detailed, I can't see any wriggle room! I left Reid passing on completed files of the lesser players to the Lynette and Zara to fill out the forms for the arrest and search warrants, everything was being kept organised by state." Roy gushed with enthusiasm.

Katie allowed herself to smile at Roy's reaction as the prosecutor who could clearly see the case coming together, "Yes, I deliberately gave him Zara and Lynnette because they both worked as prosecutors before becoming agents."

"Really, they have never let on when I've briefed them for court appearances…Mmm they probably thought they had better humour the old fool! Well they are using their legal training well now. They are even noting if there are any second homes, or girl friend addresses etc, for the local Field Offices so they have a more complete picture about the people they are after. Reid's very organised in 4C…Andrea will be thrilled to get her teeth into this lot…" said Roy and then suddenly grinned, "I said as much to young Reid. He looked up all serious with those big puppy dog eyes of his and said that he was glad that he had his Jo to protect him from Andrea!"

Katie grinned back and then shook her head in a rueful manner, "Poor Andrea, she does have that effect on some men but she is very happily married John," she assured Maskin but he himself chuckled at Reid's remark. The upper echelons of the Bureau were aware that the talented Dr. Reid had married into a good and stable family. Maskin had occasionally come across Judge Petersen and his wife at charity functions but he'd never met their children.

You've met Reid's wife?" Maskin suddenly asked out of curiosity and two sets of eyes looked his way; the brown and green shared the same twinkling warmth.

"He's a lucky man!" Roy stated succinctly.

"Jo's a lovely warm, stable and very intelligent woman…she came here to meet us on the afternoon he initially came to see me. She knew that we were weighing her up as much as assessing Spencer but she took up the challenge and basically 'stood by her man' in the best sense of the word," explained Katie. "Jo was lucky to have survived a knife attack and has a deformed hand due to defence wounds arising from that incident. But she's fought her way through the trauma of that and made something of her life. They're very sweet together and I wasn't the only one to notice that Spencer always holds her damaged hand…and she just glows with that affirmation of acceptance."

Roy nodded his eyes still shining with their warmth, "Yes…they are just good together but she can cope without him too and did so at Christmas when Spencer left her to man the desk for a while. Jo didn't seem to be unsettled and just kept circulating until he eventually returned. Andrea made a bee-line for her and apparently knows her father from law school…but Jo could hold her own against our Amazon."

Maskin nodded and filed it all away for future reference. He liked to know as much as possible about the agents who showed exceptional promise and he had no doubt that that Dr. Spencer Reid had a very promising future with the Bureau if he wished to remain. However, the older man remembered that Max had also hinted that the young genius was his own person and wouldn't necessarily take the obvious paths in life. Maskin mentally sighed, what really mattered was that Reid was an asset to the Bureau at that moment and this was another case that would help to forge his reputation and that of the Bureau.

The solid rap on the door made them all look up.

"Come!" Katie responded in her no-nonsense tone.

Aaron Hotchner strode in with the commanding air of a man who had much to do and was alert for action.

"Ah good, shall we get those two deputies of yours in here too, then I'll play the recording that was made of Tennison's last phone call." Maskin crisply announced.

"Look, Lisa asked the brother how Shields was coping and Gary said that Austin had been moved and as far as he was concerned he didn't want anymore to do with him," the stranger's voice filled the room. "The prison system won't say anything other than he's been moved for his own safety and of course he'd asked for a different lawyer before he was moved anyway. The syndicate's hands are tied so you have to help."

"Kevin…I can't do what you ask. I'm sure that senior management are watching me carefully at the moment…I've given the syndicate too much help over the past year," answered the voice they recognised as Thomas Tennison's.

"Tom, you're in far too deep to start trying to wriggle out of this. You are the only one within the system who can find where Austin Shields has been hidden. Your brother has tried but Vincent said that he's probably been given a different identity and that it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He thinks its not even been put into the computer system to keep him as safe as possible. Vincent knows how to create a new identity for agents in the field so he may not even be in a prison facility but in a safe house. You're a senior FBI prosecutor, Tom, with managerial responsibilities…you must have some idea," Kevin reasoned.

"If Vincent reckons he's in a safe house and none of this information is in the Bureau's computers then I'm not in the loop… I didn't know he'd been moved until you told me…that's why I think I'm under suspicion for tipping you people off too much. Don't you understand, if I start trying to find Shields then that just confirms that I've tampered with cases…I'm in big trouble Kevin…my whole career, my pension…"

"Oh don't start whining! You knew the risks you were taking when you got involved and you sure enjoyed some of the merchandise on offer," snapped Kevin impatiently.

"I shouldn't have listened to Vincent…He has always loved flirting dangerously with life," Tennison said in a distracted voice but Kevin was not going to listen to his ramblings.

"Tom! Think! We have to silence Shields …he knows too much!" the angry voice cracked abrasively in contrast to the others reflective one.

"That's what you said about Rankin!" Tennison spat back.

"Rankin would have blown everything if he thought he could save his own skin with a bit of bargaining. The syndicate always knew that he was the weakest link in the organisation…always treated his girls too well!" complained Kevin.

"You can't just eliminate everyone who gets arrested Kevin…Someone will just start talking because they are scared and will claim protection from the syndicate!" Tennison's agitated voice rang out.

Roy looked angry but seemed to be in his own world. Danielle and Katie were both staring at the floor and Hotch watched Reid who was staring blank faced straight ahead, totally lost in his own thoughts like everyone else hearing this conversation for the first time. Hotch had been briefed by the Director about the delicate aspects of this case and the fact that a trusted very senior FBI prosecutor had been identified as involved had really set the cat amongst the pigeons. This was evidence that Tennison had affected previous cases, perhaps only those that were connected with paedophilia but it would put all cases that had passed through his sphere of influence under suspicion. Unfortunately, this was a big problem when those involved in legal proceedings were found to have tampered with a case. As a consequence, then everything else they had ever been involved in would come under suspicion and there would be those convicted who would be eager to exploit any hint of a loop hole that might get them released. Hotch's legal mind hoped that every other case that Tennison had been involved with had a firm thread of evidence so that the conviction would not be doubted if brought to appeal.

"Look Tom, you are in the position to know the right people at the CACU to ask. There are two deputies, why not try leaning on that new guy first because he might not know the ropes as well as the woman…I saw him on the television, he looks very young even to be in the FBI." Kevin's voiced soothed trying to sound reasonable and to direct the other man to different possibilities of approaching the problem.

"You're his superior and you could lean on him as the experienced prosecutor or you could just have a more conversational chat with Cole…Like you were in the area so you thought you'd drop by and see how things were going with that paedophile case and Rankin's outfit…" the voice suggested persuasively.

The assembled agents could hear a weary sigh before the tired voice tried once more to convince the caller of his predicament, "It's not that simple Kevin! These people are experts in their field and both Katie Cole and the young looking Reid are 'profilers' and psychologists…It's their job to read people and, as far as I'm concerned, I don't want to go near them because they'll probably pick up something from me and get suspicious."

The enraged voice of Kevin exploded into the room, "For fucks sake, Tom. They are human beings not mind readers! It's your position at the Washington Field Office to oversee some of their cases that affect the Capital area so you have every right to keep tabs on what's happening!"

"You really don't understand…it's not that easy to…" began Tennison in another effort to reason with the man.

"Tom you're in this crap like the rest of us, just like that smart ass brother of yours. So I suggest you start using some of that legal mind of yours to find a way of getting the information we need and then we'll do the rest. Now I've got to go as I've a special tonight…" The call was abruptly ended and the listeners heard another deep sigh and a click that signified the end of the connection on Tennison's phone aswell.

"Indian Creek Park is close by isn't it?" stated Hotch softly, carefully watching his colleagues. They were all subdued and turned to focus on him with solemn eyes.

Katie nodded, "Mmm… Perhaps Tennison was on his way here to see me…" Katie thoughtfully replied.

Hotch nodded with understanding and gently added, "We'll never know the truth now will we…"

Hotchner assessed the agents in the room; they were all committed to the work in hand. Each of them was experienced in Bureau work, even the youngest, and each knew the importance of working smoothly as one co-ordinated unit to make this case come to court and to safely rescue the children. It was every parent's nightmare, and Hotch was not immune to the fears of having your child go missing and not knowing their fate. These would be damaged children and the families would need a lot of support following the initial euphoria of knowing that their child was alive. Then the shock would set in about the circumstances of their child's fate following their abduction and the consequences of those experiences would linger for years, if not a life time, for all of them.

Nor was it the first time that Hotch thought how suddenly old Reid appeared as he retreated behind his own defences. Reid would do this to cope with difficult cases in the BAU and his mind would concentrate on processing the details of a case to try and bring a speedy conclusion. This particular case had been long in the evidence gathering, a case that had its origins long before Reid had been injured by an insane unsub. A case that Katie and her people had carefully nurtured patiently cherishing every tiny seed of possible evidence to take them at a snail pace to infiltrate the organisation. All the hard work was now beginning to bear the precious fruit but Hotch found it satisfying that it was one of his BAU people that had been influential in accelerating the case along to its present position. This was the true genius of Spencer Reid, using his unique skills for the betterment of his fellow humans through his work at the Bureau.

Aaron Hotchner felt a glow of pride deep within him with the knowledge that he had helped to nurture Reid's gifts and he had even been a mentor to this unique man during his time at the BAU. The Bureau's senior management might joke about recognising aspects of Reid's 'media' skills but Hotch was proud that Reid modelled some of his behaviour on himself and not Jason Gideon. To Hotch, it was like having another little brother to encourage in his growth and then watch at a distance and feel immense pleasure in his successes as he progressed through life. He would never say any of this to Reid, of course, but Hotch was pleased that they had a friendship that was solidly based on trust and respect for each other's worth.

"My orders from the Director are to liaise with the Agents in Charge of the different Field Offices involved. Extra staff will to be called in to help process the arrests and the usual general 'standby' procedures are to be put in place, four hours before the sweep begins. Even the 'standby staff' are being screened to make sure that they are not in anyway connected to anyone on the Torte Client list. My colleagues in the Director's Special Task Team have dropped our working brief to assist behind the scenes with this operation and are busy checking personnel who will be used on the sweep. The Director is determined to get as many of these people from the top down. However, I'm sure Roy will agree, that if the evidence is clear cut and well presented then there will be no bail for anybody," Hotchner firmly stated and he was satisfied to see the glow of appreciation in the agents' faces as he explained this uncompromising stance.

"You will have enough time to contact all six states?" Katie pressed.

"The Director has called the Agents in Charge of the Field Offices to a special meeting at Quantico tomorrow at 10:30. They will probably suspect it's for a sweep operation but I will be vague and only say that it is imperative to be co-ordinated in the timing, as we don't want suspects disappearing. Final details will be issued an hour before the early morning sweep but they are not to go into specific details with their agents until the warrants are issued to them. I am not usually associated with CACU cases, and deliberately no CACU people are to be there, so I doubt that they will think the case involves child abuse on a grand scale. It will be up to you people to have all the evidence clearly stated for the legal side of things and the Director will make sure that the arrest and search warrants are issued by trusted judges in the specific states."

"We've already begun to fill out the necessary forms, there will be over 300 warrants to be processed for the 6 states. I've started with the small players who just bought the film and photographic material because that detailed evidence was very easily assembled from the Torte records and double checked, " Spencer stated softly and Maskin turned to nod in recognition of the work that he knew was well underway.

"I'll be here tomorrow, along with Andrea, to help check those forms so there are no unnecessary hold ups and if need be we can help fill them out too. This needs to run as smoothly as possible," Roy added, "If the issuing judge sees a professional attitude to the case then those warrants will be a formality. Fortunately, the CACU has a very good reputation with the judiciary so that also helps."

"Spencer, there will be four more agents working with Lynnette and Zara tomorrow to concentrate on the warrant forms for the lesser players. Once the small fry are dealt with then we should have the data gathering complete and double-checked for the bigger fish. I don't want any thing missed off those individual files when we have so much detail from the Torte site itself." Katie said firmly her brown eyes burning with her conviction.

"With the evidence we have no judge will dare to give bail because they know it will cause a public outcry and they themselves would not like to be seen as sympathetic to a paedophile," Roy's steady voice of reason re-assured them all.

Hotch sensed a collective sigh of relief as they were all aware that this case was going to ruin many reputations and destroy many families with the revelations on the warrants before these suspects even got to court. It was not a simple case and they knew that just one mistake, even on a minor player's list of evidence against them, would be used as sloppy detective work against the unit. Any inaccuracy could allow doubt to enter into the public's collective mind that the investigation had not been as thorough as it should have been and perhaps mistakes really had been made and people wrongly accused. Aaron Hotchner had faith that these committed people would be working flat out and double checking the individual evidence files before Roy and Andrea themselves checked the warrant forms.

Then suddenly Katie was speaking again, "Good, things seem to be moving in the right direction and an early hours sweep would be best with less traffic to foul things up and people not expecting such an early morning call. What will you actually be telling the Agents in Charge?" asked Katie as much for everyone else in the room as her own curiosity.

"That this is the Director's special case and a trap had been laid to catch major criminals involved in a case that had been a long time in the making. I'm under specific orders not to mention any operational details for obvious reasons but I'm inclined to let them think that it's a 'white collar' case because that department are working on a major charity fraud that is a cover for money laundering at the moment. But then again, they may assume that we are working alongside the DEA on one of their operations…that has been known to happen…" suggested Hotchner with twinkling mischievous eyes behind the serious tone.

"So in less then 60 hours time, this case will be moving towards arrests…." Danielle said softly as if to herself.

"And hopefully the children will all be safely rescued without problems on the early morning sweep. They are the priority alongside the major syndicate members before they can contact each other. Everyone has to be in place so they move at the same time on the addresses… We can't even risk telling the nearby hospitals in the targeted states beforehand…" Hotch continued to briefly outline the overview of the operation.

"Yes…it will put them under a lot of pressure but there is too much at stake here and there are some medical staff on the Torte clientele list. I do have good relations with the social services and child psych services across these states but I'm going to hold back until the sweep has begun. I'm sure they'll appreciate the reasons once the extent of the case is revealed but there might be a few exasperated 'Katie, this is very short notice!' over the initial call for action," Katie confided in a rueful tone.

"So far, so good," said Hotch in a positive manner, "Lets all met here at 7 tomorrow evening to discuss progress and the operational plans of the sweep in more detail. We have some very prominent people to be arrested and the Director wants we senior agents to be very visible when they are brought in."

"I will be co-ordinating the rescue of those children," Katie firmly stated and Hotchner accepted her desire to put them into her sphere of action.

"Your agents, who have already worked your day shift, should snatch some sleep tonight as it's already almost midnight. The recalled staff can keep things ticking over for a few hours," Maskin stated firmly although he was well aware that none of these people would probably sleep well but they did need a break, "I'll stay here to cover and will take my rest later tomorrow morning."

Katie nodded her thanks, they might be working on adrenaline but she and her people did need to rest.

Spencer let part of his mind process the brief details Hotch had given but he was very tired and wanted to rest away from this Field Office. Hearing Maskin's words sent a wave of weariness through his tall wiry frame. The tension of the end game was already building and he sensed the adrenaline beginning to flow in the agents around him. But Spencer had been working hard on breaking the Torte site open since he'd found the 'key'. Even when he had been at home trying to relax, Reid had not been able to switch off his brain completely as it continued to consider the cryptography involved. Consequently, he knew that this case had already drained a lot of his emotional and physical energies in a way that few others had over his time at the Bureau. Spencer wanted it to be all over but he also knew that he had to get the finer details exact…Whatever happened, he mustn't let anyone down in this department but most of all, he mustn't fail those children….

End of Chapter 22


	23. Chapter 23

**The Interregnum: Chapter 23**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer**: See Chapter 1, but basically I have borrowed the Criminal Minds characters to play with some I have invented. This is a piece of fan fiction and no monetary payment is involved nor is there any intention to break the copy right rules concerning the Criminal Minds characters although I do claim the ownership of my characters from my lively imagination!

Dr. Spencer Reid sat in the black SUV that was parked down a quiet road, well away from the nearest house, with its lights off waiting. The calm starlit sky captured his attention. He thought fondly back to his childhood and the times his father had driven him out into the desert at night to observe the stars. It was a pleasure that he had later also shared with Dr. Bishop and Peter and it never failed to fill him with awe. You really had to see the heavens away from the glare of urban lights to truly appreciate the calm beauty and the wonders of a greater universe beyond our tiny planet.

He fidgeted slightly in the passenger seat; the 'bullet proof' vest was uncomfortable over the warm jacket, which was needed against the chilly night air, but they had to be prepared to face resistance on this raid. No one who lived away from close housing would want to be woken up in the dead of night by banging at the door and the natural reaction would be to grab a weapon together with carefully peering out from a window to see who had come calling. By the time they announced themselves at the front door, the targeted property would be surrounded anyway and the vehicles' lights would be trained on the house to enable the arrest and search team to see the building clearly. That was the only disadvantage of a night sweep but they were driven by the conviction that they were dealing with children being held against their will so they were going in with a battering ram as quickly as possible. The surprise of arrival would be an advantage in preventing the suspects from further harming the children involved.

They would only use such forced entry with the properties that they had identified as 'safe houses', other members of the exclusive Torte list would be treated to an initial loud knocking or leaning on the doorbell or both. A forced entry would only be used if there were a reluctance to open up. None of the arrest and search warrants had been queried and Spencer felt that side of the operation had gone smoothly despite the haste that had been forced upon them.

They were waiting for 02:00 to register on the dashboard clock. All the cars on this simultaneous sweep had instructions to be in place by 01:45, just out of sight from the targeted addresses. CACU agents had been spread across the 6 states to participate with the raids and liaison with the local agents involved. Maskin, Hotchner and fellow senior Washington based agents were concentrating on the big names to arrest in the capital itself.

Spencer and Melanie had been assigned Virginia and were now pulled off the highway, 20 miles north of Richmond, waiting to pounce upon the home of Nicholas Zenthon which they had identified as a major holding centre for the children. Spencer was to concentrate on arresting Zenthon while Melanie was to take responsibility for the rescue and care of the children. They had a 6 man backup 'SWAT' team and four other vehicles containing 12 other agents between them. Reid had briefed his team carefully before setting out so everyone was aware of their duties with the priority to take Zenthon and his present partner, Janet, quickly into custody. Then they could rescue the children as smoothly as possible before they began securing the house ready for the evidence gathering teams. This was the standard procedure that had been agreed upon in the meeting with Hotch and disseminated amongst the teams before they set out for their specific destinations.

Senior Special Agent Corey Blackmore was assigned the arrest of Julian Kevin Logan, a special person of interest as far as Reid was concerned and Blackmore was under orders to wait for Reid before any attempt of seriously questioning the man. He sat in the driver's seat musing how slowly the last 10 minutes before a raid always appeared to drag…a phenomenon that had not eased over his years of experience.

Meanwhile, Katie had chosen to stay in Maryland and take personal charge of the raid against the property identified as the major 'holding centre' for the children in that state. It was a substantial and innocent looking house outside Frederick. She too was trying to keep herself from clock watching…

Katie had been surprised by the unexpected appearance of the Director at 6:30 the previous evening. He had come to give his personal encouragement and acknowledge the hard work involved, at such short notice, to have got the simultaneous raids organised. He spent time walking amongst the CACU personnel asking about their specific role in the preparation and their duties for the raid. It was a wonderful piece of morale boosting and well timed as Katie observed how her Unit's collective spirit was lifted by this gesture. It had been a gruelling 3 days that had been an unwelcomed necessity with the news of Tennison's suicide. Dr. Cole noticed that her deputies had taken on enormous responsibilities with processing the data gathered and had managed to meet the strict time limit imposed for the organised sweep. Katie was concerned for Danielle who had been showing her tiredness at times but she had shrugged it off and continued and was in the office that evening to co-ordinate the resources for the children. Katie prayed that her people had really identified the correct addresses for the children, but the agents had double-checked each other's work and she knew that Spencer had also cast his conscientious eyes over the details.

Katie sighed, having Spencer Reid with the Unit had been wonderful and she would like him to stay but she suspected that his fame was going before him and this case would be another to add to his portfolio of successes…or she hoped it would. He had solved the case for them by providing all the evidence from the Torte site so she hoped that these raids would now conclude the case and they would not waste the wonderful advantage that the genius had given them. However, no one could predict how a sweep would go down, they had the best and experienced minds on the planning but what happened on the ground could at times be a law unto itself because humans didn't always behave in the predicted way….

"Time!" Chris announced, and Katie's heart sprang in her chest. The engines of the vehicles came alive and they were moving with speed down the driveway.

Meanwhile in Virginia, Reid stood to one side as the two broad shouldered hulks from the Richmond office swung the hefty hand-held battling ram against the front door, the house illuminated by the full glare of headlamps. The door quickly shattered and they were moving following on the footsteps of the SWAT members as they quickly swept through, checking as they went toward the staircase. A stair light was turn on,

"What the hell!" a male voice shouted from the landing above them. Dressed in sweats and bare footed, the brown haired man stared at the scene below him in shock and found himself pushed against the nearest wall by the first SWAT man to reach the landing level.

"Assume the position!" he bellowed at him but the man was bewildered by the suddenness of the events.

Reid recognised that this was Nicholas Zenthon and stepped in to caution him and cuffs were applied. Reid was surprised that the man had appeared without a weapon.

"Where are the children kept?" Reid demanded as the search teams swarmed onwards. Meanwhile a female's raised voice could be heard protesting about the appearance of agents in her bedroom.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Zenthon began but Reid cut him off.

"We know about the Torte site, we have all the contact numbers, we know about all the money you've been paid and the numbers of your four accounts where you carefully place it so as not to draw too much attention…including the one in the Cayman's."

Reid was satisfied to see the shock in Zenthon's face; it was gratifying to feel this sense of power when you put your skills to work for the greater good.

"Where are the children or we tear this house apart looking for them? I'll make sure that it gets known that you didn't co-operate with the search for them. The public doesn't like paedophiles and there's no plea bargaining because we've all the information. This is just one of a simultaneous sweep across six states and we've all the names including Vincent who thought he'd set up an impregnable site for the Tortes…."

Zenthon capitulated without any resistance, mentally reasoning that as they knew all his personal details, and even who had devised the site, then this man really knew what was going on.

"OK…OK…there's a hidden staircase to the roof space that was converted for them…It's just by the upper laundry room on this floor…I'll show you…Can I get some slippers, my feet are cold?"

"Children first!" Melanie commanded at Reid's shoulder, her female team behind her ready to get the children quickly out of the house and on the way to hospital.

Spencer handed Zenthon over to another male agent to allow him to dress and then to escort him to the car. They could hear Zenthon's partner already being chivvied along by a female agent to get on with her dressing. The deputy knew all was going well so far and decided to accompany Melanie up the staircase that had been revealed to them behind what appeared to be an innocent looking tall book case that housed a few CDs and small trinkets.

The SWAT operative, Mark Diamond, stormed ahead but Reid was close on his heels. At the top of the stairs was a locked door with a glass central panel so they could see that ahead was a corridor with several doors leading off either side. Reid grabbed the bunch of keys hanging high up, well out of reach even if anyone had broken the glass panel in an attempt to escape. He fumbled for a few minutes seeking the correct key because they all looked similar except for different coloured enamel paint around the fob end. Once through, Diamond raced in but all was silent in the dimly lit corridor and there was no resistance just 6 identical white painted doors, three on each side.

Reid concentrated on the first one they came to, the orange tagged key didn't fit, nor the red but the pale blue turned smoothly, the heavily protected man prepared to go first just in case there was an armed client on the other side. Diamond signalled to Reid with a terse nod to swing the door open quickly and he went in weapon ready. But the room was lit by a child's bedside lamp that was decorated with childish pretty pink, purple and blue butterflies. It cast a soft pink glow around the wooden slatted headboard of the double bed. The large bed looked incongruous with its magenta silk bedspread and white silk sheets but the invading adults were concentrating on the huddled form pressed against the silk pillows to one side and hugging a small teddy with a blue ribbon. Soft dark brown curls framed a heart shaped face, her dark eyes stared out in terror from a face as white as the silk pillows she was trying to disappear into. Reid registered that she could have been no more than 7 years old.

Melanie stepped forward, her voice soft and gently re-assuring,

"It's all right, I'm Melanie, we're special police called the FBI, and we've come to take you away from this place…" she said moving quickly to be beside her.

Meanwhile, Reid had switched on the main light to reveal a room dominated by this large bed and a small pink plastic storage box of toys, A collection of soft multi coloured cuddly animals and two dolls could be seen haphazardly tossed into the box. But Reid turned away, to try the next room and then the next…All the time he was consciously stopping his mind from thinking too deeply about the rooms and their purpose. He heard Amy on the phone to Danielle confirming their raid and the need to contact the nearest hospital that they were on their way. Diamond entered the next room closely followed by Erica to re-assure the inhabitant, Reid distantly noted that this little girl looked no more than 5 years and was a pale elfin creature with the palest of blond hair and china blue eyes.

There were two more rooms left. In the first, they found two pale coffee coloured young boys with curly black hair, who looked around the age of 4. Entering the final room they discovered an older boy who looked to be about 9 years. This pale and slender older child also had nasty looking blue bruises on his arms and Reid immediately thought that he'd been tied up. The women agents were compassionately efficient in getting them out of the house and into the vehicles to transport them away for medical examination.

Reid and Diamond stood out of the way and out of sight as the children were escorted down the stairs.

"Jeez…I don't know how you people do your job," Diamond confessed.

"Neither do I!" Reid replied and walked away, feeling sick, but he had to oversee the rest of the operation of securing the house for the 'search and record' procedure that was to follow.

Carl, along with Barbara Phelps, led the raid on the substantial home of Lisa and Wallace Torte. They both loudly protested and insisted they wanted their family lawyer. But they also both knew that the warrants the agents had brought with them were in order and they could not stop the search of all the buildings within the grounds. The pair then resolutely remained silent as they were cautioned and led away to the awaiting vehicles to be taken back to College Park for questioning. Barbara took charge of these two prisoners and personally travelled back with Lisa Torte while Fred Bailey, a Washington Office based agent, rode with her husband.

Carl then directed the search of the property and personally took charge of the detached garage area. He had sat alongside Reid when he interviewed Austin Shields and knew that he was looking for the hidden cellar area that had not been discovered on the initial search following the arrest of Michael Wells. Wallace Torte had been implicated with the raid on Wells' illegal club venue because he had provided money for Wells' legitimate business cover and they were friends. The cellar beneath the garage was quickly found but Carl acknowledged to the two agents assisting him, from the Philadelphia Field Office, that it could have been easily overlooked as cellars were usually something you assumed would be beneath the main house. The house did have a substantial cellar that was used partly as a gym and partly as a food and wine store.

This garage cellar on first appearance also looked as innocent as its counterpart beneath the main house. There was a substantial wine storage area that held some very expensive wines that Carl didn't doubt were being 'laid down' as an investment and confirmed Shields' story. Then he saw the four large chest freezers and Carl's stomach knotted despite his years of experience.

He strode decisively to the first and raised the lid. Inside seemed to be carcasses of venison. The men were grateful for their gloved hands but they weren't much protection against the temperature. However they quickly worked to lift the carcasses out to see if any thing was hidden beneath them. Carl was actually relieved when they found only innocent joints of meat. They put the meat back and turned to next freezer.

Carl followed the same procedure. This one appeared to have large frozen turkeys but as the men worked quickly to remove them they glimpsed a black plastic bin liner. They lifted out the bin liner and Glover took his Swiss army knife to make a long slit down the side. Although they worked in silence, the men knew that this was what they were looking for and the frozen naked body of a befreckled redheaded boy about the age of 8, or perhaps a little older, was revealed. Carl reached for his cell to call in the refrigerated pathology vehicle that had travelled with them and then to call Danielle with the news that Shields had been telling the truth.

The next freezer revealed two more frozen bodies. This time they were naked Caucasion girls with developing breasts and defined waists that led them to think that they were in the 12 to 14 age category. The final freezer held another two bodies; a blond haired boy around the age of 4 and a girl with Latino colouring of around 10 or 11, her breasts just beginning to develop and for Glover this was just too much. He excused himself for a few minutes and found a quiet spot outside to empty his stomach.

"He's got three daughters," Jackson explained and Carl nodded with compassion.

"Yeah, this job sucks when we deal with kids but its my area of work and I'll tell you now…I still have days that I go home and feel sick. Go and see if your colleague is OK…It doesn't go in my report."

Jackson nodded his thanks and went off to find his friend and to tell him that the CACU guy was not making a fuss about this moment of apparent weakness. Glover felt ashamed but he'd not asked to work with child cases. Mostly his work had dealt with adult white collar crime but he'd been pulled in on this 'sweep' as extra personnel so there was no backing out or time to mentally prepare, particularly as they didn't even know what the case was until just before they set out.

"You all right? Carl's a nice guy…real understanding. I don't know how these CACU types cope with the things they get to see on the job," Jackson re-assured his friend although he felt his own sense of unease about finding the frozen bodies.

"Yeah…Jeez … I'm not usually affected by bodies but I guess seeing those young girls…"

"It's OK, I explained you had daughters…That's all it was, and like I said, Carl seemed to understand. We didn't get to choose this assignment … We're just agents called in to help with a major sweep of suspects and premises but this things got to be big…I mean just look how this has been organised; the CACU really felt there were bodies in this hidden cellar. This place was checked last year because Luke Hurrell was on that search."

Glover nodded and remembered the conversation with Hurrell at that time when they had seen him en route to the firing range and preparation for their fire arms test. Glover pulled himself together and was grateful that his moment of weakness had only been witnessed by a trusted friend and an experienced agent who was not going to make a fuss out of the incident.

The Georgetown address was testimony to the man's success but John Maskin was fearless and no respecter of social or professional standing if a person had broken the law. He now stood before the apartment door waiting for the occupant to open it. They knew he was there, the man had been discreetly followed since his involvement was known and now Maskin, along with four personally chosen experienced agents, waited patiently. Maskin would arrest him and he and Gardiner would escort him to College Park for questioning. The other three, Norsen, Bude and Kento, would search the apartment for evidence.

The door opened on a chain and a black silk pyjama clad Vincent Tennison peered out at the small group.

"Yes?" he enquired bleary eyed

"FBI…" said Maskin firmly holding out his ID. Within seconds the door was properly opened but Maskin stood ready to prevent the door from closure, "Vincent Tennison I have come to take you into custody…" and proceeded to read the shocked man his legal rights. Tennison calmly responded by insisting that this was all obviously a mistake, or at worse a malicious allegation, and was allowed to dress although they never left him alone. Tennison assured them that he would say nothing until his lawyer was present as a witness to the absurd allegations. Gardiner was unmoved by the protestation and cuffed him as he would have done any other prisoner being taken into custody. They had strict instructions from Maskin not to leave this man alone at any time and Gardiner had every intention of keeping on the right side of Maskin.

"We don't believe we have made a mistake, Dr. Tennison, now shall we go…"

Maskin gave the other three agents a curt nod; they had their orders to thoroughly search the apartment.

Aaron Hotchner now sat beside the deathly pale looking White House official from the Social Affairs department. Thirty minutes before, he had stood bewildered, sleepily blinking out at Hotchner through the chained gap in his door. Hotch had heard his wife ask what was going on from behind him...

"The FBI…Susie. I'm sure there's been a big mistake here…" The sleepy man opened the door to allow them entry and to lessen the noise for the house occupants and the immediate neighbourhood.

"I … What do you mean an arrest warrant for me and a search warrant for this house?" he asked still bewildered by this early morning awakening. This man had never had even a parking ticket in his life but now there were FBI agents in his home and his brain was refusing to acknowledge the reasons for their presence.

Susie, with her rose pink silk dressing gown wrapped tightly round her tall willow-like figure, tried to take in what Hotchner had been saying.

"Arrest…Search warrant! I'm ringing Richard they can't just search our home can they?"

"Mrs. Jarden the arrest and search warrants are all in order but you can call your lawyer to assist your husband. But you will understand that I cannot leave either of you alone in case you attempt to destroy evidence or your husband to escape," Hotchner stated calmly, his quiet voice upheld his air of authority and Susie Jarden stopped her dialling.

"What is Jim accused of?" she quietly asked fixing her pale grey eyes on Hotchner's dark unfathomable ones.

"Participating in under-age sex and buying child pornography…" Hotchner reached out a supportive arm as the shocked woman's knees gave way.

"Come and sit down, Mrs Jarden, and take some deep breathes. I'm sure that this has come as quite a shock." Hotchner said compassionately.

"I ...I …Jim what …tell me you're innocent!" she fiercely demanded of her husband but he flinched and Hotch watched the horror of realisation in the woman's face.

She breathed and tried to compose herself but there was a sudden outburst of anger,

"You bastard…I'm never going to let you near our children ever…How are they going to cope with this? It will be all over the news tomorrow, they won't be able to go back to school…Can you imagine what the other parents and children will be thinking…Their father is a pervert!" She suddenly rose and Hotch watched her carefully in case she made any attempt to assault her husband but she suddenly drew on hidden depths and a steely dignity rose from within her.

"I need to dress and get the children out of here but I can't do that until you've taken him away…"

"Yes, I understand but I have to ask Agent Jill Shelton to be with you at all times. I'm sorry but it's standard procedure that we must follow…" Hotchner said gently because he felt that this woman was the innocent party in all of this and her desire to remove herself and children from the house was the most natural thing to do.

"Where will you be going?" he asked softly.

"My sister…Linda she lives in Princeton and lectures there…"

Hotchner nodded and signalled to Shelton to accompany the wife upstairs.

"Susie…What about me…you were going to get Richard?"

Mrs. Jarden turned to face her husband and coldly replied, "Rot in hell!" and walked towards the bedroom with Jill Shelton a step behind her.

The car now sped towards College Park on almost empty roads. Hotchner had left three agents searching the Jarden home for evidence, the computers had been the first things to be placed to be taken away for deeper scrutiny. James Jarden had to do his own call to his lawyer, Richard Falls-Bayliss, while Mrs Jarden dressed quickly and Agent Shelton took her to wait things out in the kitchen over coffee. The lawyer had instructed his client to co-operate with the warrant but to say nothing until he was present to assist in any questioning.

Falls- Bayliss had quite a reputation amongst Washington society but Hotchner thought he might find himself well out of his depth with this case. Hotch personally felt that once the lawyer realised the weight of the evidence that he'd encourage his client to fully co-operate or get another lawyer. Hotchner thought that a lot of big names in the legal profession might want to back off this case because it dealt with the taboo subject of child pornography and under-age sex.

Five hours later, the United States news channels were beginning to realise that a big story had broken in the early hours following a sweep of arrests across several states. Tired shift workers returning home and sleepy risers turned on their televisions and radios to speculation and frantic reporters trying to find out definite facts. Rumour was rife but they all seemed to agree that the major story breaking concerned arrests of some big names suspected of involvement in a child sex ring across six states within the capital area.

Katie sat at her desk feeling the thrill of the chase tingling through her body. Despite the hurried plans they had made 364 successful arrests across six states in simultaneous raids. The small fry were being held at the Field Offices where they were arrested but the bigger names, and major syndicate players, had been brought to College Park for her people to bring this case formally together in their questioning.

The Director had been to see the President; he had made his visit 10 minutes into the sweep. The President was both shocked about the extent of the operation and those involved together with the fact that he had not been kept informed beforehand. However, the Director stressed that they had deliberately kept him in the dark so he could not be tainted if any of the arrests had not gone to plan and people had been tipped off.

It was agreed that the President would make a statement at midday and he wanted the Director and the major players in the FBI operation to be on the platform alongside him. Katie smiled to herself, she fortunately always kept a decent 'suit' at work for media appearances but she winced at the thought of Spencer. On telling Maskin, about the later news conference and Presidential address before it, the older man had smiled...and said, "I'll tell Reid!" and Katie thought that it would come better from John.

John Maskin was about to sit in with Dr. Reid as he began his questioning of Dr. Vincent Tennison. It was now 8 a.m. and they were all working on pure adrenaline buoyed up by the successful arrests and the finding of not 58 children but some 65. Those children were scattered around at various state hospitals and securely away from the media attention as DNA was taken aswell as the necessary thorough medical.

Reid was awaiting Maskin outside the interview room. Vincent Tennison sat calmly with his lawyer, Larson Hewitt, who had an impressive mane of silver hair but dark bushy eyebrows and sharp very dark eyes. This lawyer was a man who commanded high fees for his appearance beside any client. The beautiful quality of his clothes and the discreet gold cufflinks he wore complimented his confident manner as the highly successful lawyer who worked amongst only those of a certain social standing.

"Ready?" Maskin asked the young agent who stood holding a standard FBI buff coloured folder. But it seemed to Maskin that Reid seemed self assured in his own quiet way and a man who was not going to be side-tracked by the reputation of a society lawyer.

"I have all the evidence against this man…but Tennison still thinks that he has covered his tracks well and that we will have nothing on him. His whole body language tells the observer that he's self assured and used to getting his way in the world." Reid informed Maskin of his observations in a cold and detached way.

"You don't mind me sitting in?" Maskin felt the need to ask; he'd not seen the genius in this sort of mood before and wondered if he would cramp his style.

"Not at all …you arrested him," replied Reid surprised by the question. Reid liked the fact that Maskin had not pushed his weight around in this operation but had been there to be supportive to Katie and her team at short notice. "But I'm not in the mood to pamper to this man's ego. We have too many syndicate members and their clients to process!" Reid tersely explained and gave a slight smile in anticipation of the interview and the overwhelming knowledge that they had against this man.

Maskin answered with a nod of his readiness and the slender agent stepped forward to enter the room first as the lead interrogator.

Reid cut through any pretense and went straight to the heart of the case.

"Dr. Tennison, you already know Deputy Director Maskin but I am Dr. Spencer Reid, acting Deputy in the Crimes Against Children Unit here at College Park. Dr. Cole specifically requested that I worked on the website that the 'under age sex' syndicate was using…" Spencer began in his unassuming manner as if recounting a factual report. However, he was aware from the very controlled reactions from the man opposite that Tennison had not expected such a forthright beginning from such a young looking man and his lawyer looked a little perplexed despite his reputation. Hewitt had expected the Deputy Director to take charge of the questioning of his client because of his respected position within the NSA.

Reid continued in his quiet professorial manner, "I discovered the illegal site carefully embedded, very cleverly within the genuine Torte Spares site. It was the work of very able professional and contained many secure features to keep the illegal site safe. However, I entered the entire secret and seemingly secure areas and down loaded all the site contents including passwords to the individual accounts together with their purchase histories. I even accessed the personal details of the syndicate members and their off shore bank accounts where the illegal earnings were placed. It was all very methodically set out and the 'booking keeping' was all very clear to enable the syndicate members to know where and how the proceeds were divided within each state. That illegal website was your work, Dr Tennison, and it was an impressive piece of security with an excellent level of cryptography."

"Dr Reid," Tennison smiled amiably, "You seem to have made the assumption that I'm involved because of my cryptography and general computing expertise. I deny all knowledge of the site and I certainly had nothing to do with its creation," he clearly stated while his lawyer stared at Reid as if he was a little nerdy upstart. Spencer was reminded of how many times he'd seen that same look as a child from the older students he had been placed to work alongside.

"Dr Tennison do you really believe that we would have gone to the trouble of arresting you in the early hours if we did not have proof of your involvement with the syndicate run by the Tortes?" Reid mildly asked and Maskin sat back appreciating the spectacle of the young deputy circling his prey while deciding when next to pounce.

"I think you have made a very big mistake and you have mixed me up with somebody else. I've a very responsible position with the NSA and their background checks are extremely thorough Dr. Reid. I think perhaps it would be best for you to just admit now that you have made a mistake before this all backfires on your career because the FBI will not like being made to look a fool."

"I appreciate intelligence, Dr Tennison, and you certainly fit into that category although you obviously do not appreciate mine. I'm not bluffing, I checked the clientele listing, you and your brother are both there and purchased special 'one to one' services with under age girls."

"Dr Reid that is a very serious allegation and I must insist on knowing how you came by such a list …Afterall it could have been easily fabricated…someone using my client's identity," Larson Hewitt finally spoke up bristling with indignation.

"Oh I would never make such an allegation without checking the apparent facts. I repeat, I down loaded the whole of the illegal Torte site and all the clientele information, which includes credit card details and addresses. All these personal details held on the Torte site were carefully checked by FBI personnel. You see, Mr. Hewitt, the Tortes fleet of vans would deliver their merchandise to the client's home disguised as car spares packages. In fact, the Torte Car Spares is a profitable and legitimate side of the Torte empire and used quite innocently by thousands of people. Your client here ordered DVDs from the Torte syndicate among the titles were 'Hannah's bath time' and 'Chloe's bedtime chores'…" as Reid spoke he opened the file he had brought with him and took out several sheets of printed paper. It was obviously a print out of a customer purchase record of many DVDs covering four sheets along with dates, the credit card details, delivery address and all very obviously in his client's name.

The lawyer's brown eyes stared hard at the agent and then returned to the scrutiny of the details on the papers before him. There was an involuntary straightening of his shoulders as he looked at other sheets listing the 'personal services' bought with the date, time and venue's state for the 'experience'.

"However, the Tortes also secretly filmed every 'personal session' probably as future bargaining power if the client became difficult or a syndicate member wanted to suddenly back out of the enterprise," Reid continued in his unthreatening soft voice. "We have uncovered the secret films, all incidentally neatly labelled, with the date and client's name and stored on the Tortes' home premises. Dr. Tennison and his brother are clearly seen having sex with young girls…"

Maskin watched silently as Hewitt looked appalled at the information before him and felt uncomfortable at the implications. Hewitt knew that there was no way that he would be able to get his client a sympathetic hearing because the case involved under-age child sex and with children that no one would believe could be mistaken for over the age of consent.

But the deputy was continuing to outline the case against Tennison.

"Then there is the fact that the Tortes were paying you a considerable fee for keeping the website secure, and you used an off shore account in the Cayman's, like a lot of the syndicate members, for the money paid to you. However, then you moved a lot of your money around from that Cayman account, a considerable amount was transferred to an account in Liechtenstein. Then you created at least 4 new identities as a way to escape if you felt that things were getting a little too hot for you. Interesting names," the quiet voice teased, "Clive Missnett, Walker Burns, Fabian Linden-Bose and Henry Glissen-Bowers," Spencer announced never letting his eyes waver from staring at Tennison. He saw Tennison's eyes loose their fight, the superior stance he had been trying to maintain was slipping away with every name he revealed. Maskin was trying hard to suppress his desire to gloat but he was going to have one hell of a story to share with the Director later.

Hewitt raised his bushy dark eyebrows to express his incredulity at the statement but this just gave Reid the encouragement to continue.

"Your client is something of an expert at creating new identities when necessary, Mr Hewitt. It is sometimes imperative to create a believable background for an agent in the field that will pass the expert scrutiny of other agencies…in effect it means that official computerised records are accessed and altered to support the new identity. I 'hacked' into your client's personal computer and broke through his individualised firewall. The computer memory banks revealed considerable activity and I can give you the full details of those 4 different identities that he has created for himself complete with 4 passports with addresses and healthy bank balances in Quebec, Canada, Albany, New York State, Madison, Wisconsin and New Haven, Connecticut."

"Gentlemen, could I have some time alone with my client please," Hewitt asked with a controlled politeness but his confidence was not as assured as when they had first sat down in the room.

Reid gave a terse nod of assent and mildly replied, "Of course."

The two FBI men rose and silently left together, the younger one once more taking the lead. They went into a side room and Maskin smiled at the tired looking deputy.

"You've not given him any wriggle room," Maskin stated with satisfaction and twinkling eyes at witnessing the success of this agent's forthright approach.

"That was the intention and he doesn't deserve any especially as there is no plea bargaining on this case because we have all the information. There is clear evidence of this man's activities and there is no need to play drawn out games with any of these people. The only person who might be given a listening ear is Austin Shields because Katie would like to know where he buried the bodies before they began dumping them at sea. The Torte cellar is being searched very carefully, and knowing how tidily the Tortes ran the syndicate, we might actually find some reference there that might indicate how many children were disposed of." Reid replied evenly.

Maskin nodded; Carl had rung in from Philadelphia triumphant about the search of the cellar. In two cupboards they had found the DVDs of the 'personal services' sessions and ledgers with details of payments for 'new merchandise' that Carl thought were made to the abductors for the children when they were handed over. There were some odd references, at the back of one ledger, to 'presents' which might account for the 'unknown' children, who had never been reported missing but perhaps were used in part payment for services or a favour for a drug supplier. Glover had turned up at the office with the DVD material and the ledgers because Katie had specifically requested them as soon as possible. Danielle was already pouring over this new material with Tony logging all the DVDs onto their evidence database. It was proving an invaluable source for the agents interviewing the syndicate members and clientele.

"I find it fascinating that the Tortes had this need to record everything so clearly," remarked Maskin.

Reid nodded in understanding, "They both have a shopkeepers mentality that needed to log all the details of their merchandise… detailed descriptions of the merchandise, date acquired, who bought it, when merchandise was despatched, and even the name of the van driver used was logged. They have tidy obsessive minds and by recording these minute details they felt totally in control of their empire. That's why I knew the case was made for us as soon I broke into the very detailed customer database. The secret DVDs from the garage are the icing on the cake and can obviously be viewed for their 'blackmail' potential.

The NSA will be alarmed to find out just what we do have on their man. The Director was furious on hearing about Thomas Tennison's involvement but to know that there is actual film with these children…" Spencer shook his head sadly. "In many ways we are fortunate that Tennison shot himself because it has saved the Bureau from an even bloodier mauling at the hands of the media. I wonder how long it will be before the politician's are going to leap on the band wagon…anything to show how squeaky clean they are and to be seen displaying their righteous indignation at every opportunity."

"Yes…But this is a major case and sadly so emotive because its children. It's also a superb example as to why the Bureau should have its funding restored to its previous levels at least. If the Director plays his cards right we should come out with a healthier budget and a higher status in the publicity stakes…."Maskin calmly stated seeing the pieces at play in a wider arena.

"When do you think the funding might be restored?" Reid asked and Maskin looked sharply at the young man.

"You want to go back to the BAU and under Hotch?"

"Preferably yes …but how feasible is it time wise?" Reid confessed seeing no need to hide the fact that he still considered himself 'on loan' from the department of his chosen calling.

"This case will have to be making its way through court. But as you and this department seem to have an arsenal of relevant evidence, I can see a lot of these people pleading guilty quickly. They will probably be counselled by their lawyers to avoid a drawn out day in court because the public will be baying for blood with every new detail fuelling the fire for justice."

Reid nodded and added,

"Yeah…and all the innocent parties in relationships with these men will be trying their best to keep a low profile. The ramifications of this are far wider than the immediate sensational reporting…I just hope that we will be able to protect the victims and their families and that they get the much needed counselling and long term support."

Maskin observed the man, hands in the pockets of his brown corduroy pants, who seemed to carry the cares of the world upon his shoulders at that moment. John Maskin decided to get back to the immediate problem.

"This prisoner is going to capitulate or his lawyer is going to back out of the case…What do you think?"

"I hope its capitulation…I don't see him as the type who will enjoy the publicity, especially as he thought his computing gifts were invincible. … The fact that I hacked his personal computer has really shaken him to his core. He's going to hate having to go to court, being held on remand will…."

A knock at the door broke into Reid's sentence.

"Come!" commanded Maskin and June Gallen, a middle aged civilian clerk, walked in apprehensively.

"Mr. Hewitt says that his client is ready to resume now," she stated still trying to come to terms with the size of the operation that her department was involved with.

"Maskin smiled re-assuringly at the physically large but shy woman, "Thank you," he replied and nodded her dismissal.

"Let's see if our NSA man is capitulating…" said the senior and smiled to himself at the effectiveness of the sweep operation.

The two agents knew as they re-entered the room that the atmosphere was one of begrudging defeat. Hewitt immediately spoke for the subdued client.

"My client sees no reason to inflict any further unnecessary pain on those children and will fully co-operate in this investigation to bring it to a speedy conclusion. I hope that my client's co-operation will be clearly stated before the court hearing. He is deeply ashamed of his behaviour and the betrayal of trust."

Maskin nodded sagely, "The NSA will no doubt have its own internal enquiry into its vetting procedures and spot checks but it seems likely that he will face charges in that direction too and loose all pension rights that he may have accrued over the years."

"Just like Tom will," Tennison interjected fiercely and reminded the FBI men of their own bad apple at the Washington Field Office.

"No, your brother will not…Thomas Tennison committed suicide three days ago and that's what brought forward these arrests…We wanted to catch as many of the players as possible but we have been very fortunate in the evidence that we have gathered," Maskin stated in a flat emotionless tone. He could find no sympathy for the dead brother because of his behaviour and the fact that he had sullied the Bureau's name. Maskin also had felt no desire to break the news of the brother's death gently: these men were well aware of what they were doing to those children and their behaviour did not deserve sympathy.

Spencer Reid stood back letting his superior take control of this situation. He wasn't shocked by Maskin's behaviour and actually condoned it. Both brothers had knowingly abused under-aged girls; Reid had no respect for either, although he thought more compassionately about the family that had to cope with the knowledge of the Tennison brothers' behaviour.

Less than 30 minutes later, Dr. Spencer Reid was in the interview room with Agent Corey Blackmore about to interview Julian Kevin Logan. Logan sat alongside his lawyer, the successful Virginian Frank Sumner, who had been in practice for 40 years. He was now in his seventieth year but his mental agility seemed to have sharpened over the years of legal practice and he possessed a reputation in Virginia for his razor sharp cross examining in the court room. Reid continued with his no-nonsense attitude for dealing with these people.

"Mr Logan, lets not play denial games…We have visual evidence and evidence of your paid activities for the syndicate as well as your position in being pivotal in the running of the syndicate within Virginia. I don't want any, 'You have the wrong person'" Reid said anticipating the prisoner's protestations of innocence, " I can show you the evidence downloaded from the Torte site…" he opened the buff coloured folder and passed over to the two men Logan's purchasing history. Dr. Reid then produced sheets of evidence detailing Logan's payments for his work as a 'contact' for informing the clientele of venue details. Finally, he passed over the sheet that listed his off shore bank accounts and their current status. Sumner scrutinised the papers now held in his podgy sun-tanned fingers.

Corey Blackmore was impressed, this young deputy was going for the jugular and the rumour circulating was that this agent had been specially brought into the CACU on secondment to help break this case. The formidable Dr. Cole had been working her Unit flat out but over the past few hours the sweeps had justified all the effort. The CACU agents were tired but elated by tying together the threads that pointed to a major operation in sex crime and murder and this triumph was bouncing off the walls at the College Park complex. There was lots of talk about the BAU's genius at the Washington Office and Corey had found his recent book fascinating and now he would have his own story to tell about the man behind the name and his own part in this operation.

Sumner realised that this was a well-prepared case and despite the earlier protestations of innocence, the lawyer now concluded that this was first class evidence and this man beside him was ready for the fires of hell. He shot his client a disdainful look, it may have been unprofessional but this was the most heinous crime and part of him felt that these men should be taken out and hung from the nearest tree. Perhaps the so-called Wild West and their own brand of justice still had a place in society, Sumner argued within himself, especially when they still had animals like this one beside him.

"That could have been fabricated. You have nothing on me to connect me with these crimes you accuse me of," Logan began, in his suave voice. To all outward appearances he was in a good profession and was an apparently respected and liked bank manager. It was the perfect cover, as no one would believe that he was involved in such sordid acts especially because he also seemed to be the happy family man.

Spencer Reid looked stonily at Logan; he gave a slight smile that Sumner thought hostile because the enormous brown eyes did not light up with warmth but were hard and calculating.

"Mr Logan, you have not been listening to what I was saying but let me give you some more detail to convince you. The Tortes ran a meticulous site where all the payments made across the syndicate members could be clearly seen so everyone involved in providing services could check where the money was distributed. I broke all the passwords into the secure areas on that secret site that was embedded in the legitimate Torte Spares site. Everyone who was considered trusted was allowed to buy the 'key' to access the site to order material and 'special one to one private services' with the merchandise. That key was a flash memory stick that appeared to hold a collection of photos from a holiday of New England in the Fall…" Reid was aware that Blackmore was as interested in these details as the lawyer before him, but Logan was trying to keep up his detached innocence.

"Agent, I have a common name…." Logan began in a patient and reasonable voice.

"Please…it doesn't hold up as a defence especially as the Tortes secretly filmed the private sessions and we have the DVDs with your activities with 6 and 9 year olds. You particularly liked the red heads with pale white skin and freckles…You even told them how they were 'little tantalising princesses' as you then placed their tiny shaking hands around your erect penis…" said Reid icily pushing the barb deeper into the once smug man.

Corey Blackmore watched the disgust in Sumner's face and the shock in Logan's. The prisoner couldn't wriggle out of this and Reid was choosing the details that he couldn't deny. But Reid was speaking again and Blackmore tuned in hanging on every word of detail.

"Then there are the three mobile 'pay as you go' cell phones. We found all three hidden at your home but we had already accessed the history of calls and these link you to the paedophile clientele who use the Torte site. Their cell contact numbers and individual passwords are all listed carefully in the individual client account sections so we just worked at getting the history of those numbers and cross checking the detailed phone use…" the younger agent reeled off the detail effortlessly.

"Dr. Reid, I think I would like a few private minutes to speak with my client," Sumner interrupted as he felt the details were more than enough to get Logan convicted and he sensed the bank manager was beginning to squirm in his seat.

Reid nodded, and turned to Blackmore, "Let's get some coffee shall we?"

The two agents stood in the CACU kitchen with mugs both leaning against the counter top. Corey Blackmore noted how other agents came to give the young deputy updates of their findings and how their own interviews with the arrested were going. So far they were going down without resistance when they realised just how detailed the mass of evidence was against them. Some couldn't stop talking. The prisoners seemed to think that if they talked about everything connected with the Torte experience then this 'co–operation' would go in their favour for arraignment.

"How's it going?" a female voice said from behind them and both men turned to see an animated Katie Cole before them, reaching to replenish her own mug.

"Logan did the usual…you've got the wrong guy…it's a common name…So I put in some undeniable detail. He's talking with his lawyer at the moment but I've not had a chance to talk to him about the Vikki murder yet," her deputy replied taking a sip of his hot liquid.

"Concentrate on this Torte case for now, we'll have time to press over the Vikki case once we've processed all these people. We can show his photo to the other men we arrested on that case…if they know that Logan's already on this rap they may feel safer about fingering him without reprisals. Rankin's death frightened people but we have the major players now and Andrea and Roy are rallying the prosecutors to prevent those in custody getting bail. Logan will probably deny the Vikki incident anyway and it doesn't seem to be Torte related. Remember that we have his DNA and prints now and these can be run against the forensic material found from the Vikki case. We may be able to connect him without even getting an ID from the other men involved and that would be better evidence than other paedophiles who are not known for their honesty."

Reid nodded, "Yeah, you're right…but he's such a smug bastard!" he said vehemently into his coffee and Katie raised an eyebrow. She had rarely heard the genius swear since his coming to this department and it was a sign of just how much the case had really affected him.

Katie smiled at Blackmore, "Thanks for arresting the said smug bastard for us. Your team worked well and secured evidence quickly in difficult circumstances at the Logan family home," she said and warming to the theme the Unit Chief continued. "We've had to work at a frenetic pace over the past few days. Agents were pulled in from all over and they also had to be checked that they were not connected to the list of people we were going to arrest. We had to keep the whole operation as quiet as possible and only gave instructions at the last minute for the sweep of raids."

Corey Blackmore nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who's just beginning to grasp just how wide the net has been cast. But it feels good to have been part of a successful co-ordinated raid like that…It's something that's going to be talked about for sometime and become part of the Bureau's history!"

"Well it would be satisfying in the long run, but we still have to get these people before a judge and we're stressing no bail! One step at a time, Agent! But I'll be extremely disappointed if anyone arrested in the raids gets bail but we are dealing with 6 states…"

"True…but it's about children!" replied Blackmore, "Just think how the media will react if anyone does get bail. They'll go for the Judge, the lawyer, the paedophile and their families…It's going to be hell for their families as it is, but it's a case of between the devil and the deep blue sea…At least the prisoners might get solitary for their safety inside the prison system!"

Spencer nodded and felt the emptiness of his stomach. He saw that someone had ordered up sandwiches and cake from the cafeteria so he went to grab something to soak up all the coffee he'd been drinking for the past few hours.

"First time I've worked with the genius and didn't know what to expect. He gave him no chance to plead his innocence and went in hard with what you have on the prisoner," Blackmore softly confided and Katie smiled and gave a slight nod.

" Spencer is very conscientious and doesn't really like the genius label. He's been central to breaking this case wide open for us although we'd been gathering evidence carefully for sometime…"

Blackmore nodded; often the public didn't appreciate all the background work that went into an investigation to build a good case. It didn't do the Bureau any good to rush in before they had firm evidence but television crime dramas often made it seem so easy when the reality was careful and painstaking preparation and often involved sifting through mountains of possible clues to find clear evidence. As an agent, once the prisoner was arrested, then you stepped aside for the legal professionals to enter the arena for the next period of play. The agents who had been involved would find themselves quickly working another case. When the case eventually came before a jury; then the agents would need to remind themselves of the case details because it would be months later and briefing by the prosecution team was invaluable and necessary.

Logan begrudgingly took Sumner's advice and admitted his role in the syndicate but he was not willing to talk further in detail. Spencer followed Katie's orders and put his thoughts about Vikki on the back burner. His tired mind acknowledged that it would be far better to put firm evidence before Logan of his involvement in raping the dead Latino girl. He wondered if they would ever discover her true identity and who had originally given her drugs that eventually led to her death. It had been an early case for Reid at this Unit, although he now felt that he'd been here forever it was actually less than 6 months. The Vikki case still haunted the small group of men at the CACU and Reid hoped that the Labs would get these most recent DNA samples processed quickly. However, he also knew the reality: the children's DNA would be the priority in order to confirm their identity, the mass of forensic material from the raid arrests would take weeks to work methodically through. There would then be the 'cross-checking' for matches with other sex offences against children; it all amounted to a lot of work that was going to be chugging away in the background.

The CACU was a hive of activity; interview rooms had been taken over across the complex in order to go through the initial interviewing process and preparation for arraignment. Reid had personally interviewed 14 of those arrested and not just major syndicate players. He had also confronted a Maryland based judge, three lawyers, two medical doctors and three teachers, fortunately they didn't put up much resistance once the evidence was put to them but they all shared common characteristics. They all seemed successful in their fields, of good social standing, well educated and often married or in a relationship. They seemed solidly middle class on the surface and superficially charming…not the Joe Public's idea of a paedophile who tended to think of them as the weirdo on the margins of society.

Spencer Reid was particularly angry when a paedophile would try to justify their behaviour by transferring the blame for their actions onto the child victim. The usual excuses ran on in his head, he had heard them several times over that morning… 'But she flirted with me,' 'She enjoyed all the attention and was very forward', 'She liked it and wanted more', 'He enjoyed the time together', and the ' He wanted it as much as I did, it was mutual no force was involved…he wasn't innocent'.

Dr Spencer Reid was now beyond shock after working with this Unit for a few months. He had experienced an odd childhood but he had not been sexually abused although he was psychologically and emotionally abused at times and then there was the physical abuse he had experienced from bullies. Reid would admit to himself that he liked children and wished that they all could experience the best of a stable and loving home. But he hated his work with the CACU. It was not a dislike of his colleagues because he found them good, interesting and caring people but he hated the work and this case had gnawed away at him. It had dominated his life, on and off, since December and he had neglected his Jo, other friends and outside interests.

"Reid!" the male voice broke into his tired rambling thoughts and he looked up to see the craggy features of John Maskin.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, just switched off for a few minutes after 14 interviews…" he answered briskly pulling himself back to the reality of the moment.

Maskin smiled in understanding and at the blunt honesty of the young deputy.

"Go home and get changed into a suit. You're not appropriately dressed for meeting the President and sharing a platform with him and the Director…."

Reid felt a bolt of shock race through his tired body, "The President?" he softly repeated thinking he'd misheard.

"Yes, and you're not wearing the sort of clothes I expect of a Bureau agent," Maskin pointedly replied just for his hearing. "Katie and I expect you back here by 11:15 now go!" he ordered in a tone that was not to be argued with.

Spencer was grateful for living only a few minutes drive from his workplace. Jo was obviously not at home but he went straight to the fridge and searched for something to eat that was 'home-made' and nourishing. There was a dish of his favourite tomato and lentil savoury and he placed a portion on a plate and micro waved it for 2 minutes to warm it through. He peered into the cookie tin and found it disappointedly empty but the square cake tin contained a rich fruitcake. As the microwave signalled its completion of the task, Reid was cutting a wedge of cake. He needed something for his stomach to churn on, he reasoned with himself, when he met the President.

The food was devoured quickly and then he dashed up the stairs and had a quick refreshing shower before diving into the wardrobe for his bespoke charcoal coloured suit….

Thirty minutes later, Aaron Hotchner stood beside John Maskin at the CACU reception desk as Reid walked through the door.

"Nice suit!" complimented Katie who had just joined them; she was dressed in a black tailored 'pant suit' with a cream silk blouse.

Maskin nodded his approval towards Reid but Hotch smiled and kept his thoughts to himself. Dr. Reid looked extremely smart and passed Maskin's exacting standards even if the pristine white shirt was worn with a silk tie that was far from conservative. Maskin would have preferred a plain sober colour or subdued stripes but Hotch doubted he expected a fine silk tie based on a Jackson Pollock painting. Hotch thought it most appropriate, because he thought it was based on Pollack's work entitled 'Search'. Katie grinned at Hotch behind Maskin's back, as they entered the elevator, but Hotch's grin held its own secret that he was not going to share. He knew that Reid may have conformed superficially but here was his Spencer Reid, the BAU's genius, because he was still rebelliously wearing odd socks…one navy and the other black.

Spencer was subdued during the car journey to the White House. He had expected Danielle to be alongside them but he was told that Danielle had been feeling 'contraction' like pains and Dee had been ordered to take her to the hospital for a check up to be on the safe side. But Spencer had exchanged worried looks with Katie, as both of them knew how hard Danielle had been working in the background on this case. The young agent just felt uneasy about his fellow deputy and found himself praying that she and her baby were going to be all right. He accepted this emotional response to the worrying situation. Reid didn't consider himself particularly religious but, like a lot of people when faced with difficult dilemmas, he would find himself seeking the help of the greater power within his universe.

The next hour was a whirlwind of social activity and Reid was amazed that he didn't stutter once at being introduced to the President and his senior advisors. To Maskin's experienced eye, Reid was like Hotchner's shadow in his manner both at the presidential meeting and the later press conference.

The Director stood on the podium commanding the attention of the assembled media.

"I would like to stress that the decision was made deliberately not to tell the President of the planned raids. The reasoning behind this was that if things went wrong during the arrests of the White House officials and members of the judiciary, or if these suspects had been tipped off, then rumours might even cast doubt over the President's impartial role. I wish to make it absolutely clear that the President is not implicated in this case, he is totally innocent but there are minor members of his staff that have been arrested because of their involvement with this paedophile ring.

My own people have been involved. One of the senior Prosecutors based at the Washington Field Office and his brother, on the staff of the NSA, have both been implicated and as soon as they were identified steps were put into place to have them discreetly watched. Unfortunately, matters beyond our control overtook the timing of the case we were building when the Bureau Prosecutor committed suicide. We then had to act quickly and within three days the sweep operation was organised and at 2 a.m. was implemented today. In all we have made 364 arrests with only three out-standing warrants but we have all of the syndicate members who ran the paedophile ring across 6 states, and the majority of the clientele. Furthermore, we have rescued 65 children, the youngest being under one and the eldest 13, when we were only expecting 58 from the details off the website.

However, I would now like to pass you over to Dr. Katie Cole who heads the CACU based at College Park. Dr. Cole will give you a little more background to the case but bear in mind that we cannot go into too much detail because we do not want to jeopardise the future trials."

Katie stepped forward and Spencer moved to be to her right as agreed before they came to the podium.

End of Chapter 23.


	24. Chapter 24

**The Interregnum: Chapter 24**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1

Katie stared at the crowded room, the major networks were represented as well as the main newspapers and there were also some members from the foreign press corps because this story was receiving world-wide coverage due to the size of the operation and the people involved.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have had a very intense few days and I would like to thank, not only my own dedicated staff, but also all the agents that were pulled into this operation at very short notice and executed their orders calmly and efficiently.

I would also like to make a special plea for restraint on your part. I know that you media people want all the information you can get but please, we're dealing with traumatised children. We've rescued 65 and they're scattered across 6 states and are being treated in hospitals within those states. You can help by not besieging those medical centres for information because they're not allowed to give it. We have families to contact, some of which have come to believe that their missing child was probably dead, especially as some of these children were abducted nearly 4 years ago now. The children and their families will need considerable counselling to help them all to cope with the events they've endured. Such matters are best done without the media breathing down their necks and I stress the need for restraint and respect for the privacy of those victims and their families."

Katie paused so the full weight of her words would have time to register. She scanned the room with her calm authoritarian presence and Spencer thought how very like an old-fashioned schoolteacher she seemed in her manner at that moment.

"Jo! Spencer's on the news!" Marilyn Bevan's voice summoned Jo's attention.

Jo had just walked into the Fairfax Estates office after assessing the progress of a 'Fairfax' house undergoing refurbishment. She was still unbuttoning her gentian blue wool coat as she walked through the open door of her aunt's office where Marilyn was eating a ham sandwich for lunch.

"Wow…That's Katie…and there's Hotch!" Jo exclaimed going over to the large screen to point them out…Spencer's wearing his best suit…he must have gone home to change. I told you that I've hardly seen him recently and when he has been at home he's been in his own world. Now its all very clear what they were working on!" she said slipping off her coat and draping it over a nearby chair before going to join Marilyn on her sofa.

"You should have seen them earlier, Jeff said that the President addressed the press before handing over to the FBI Director…Looks like they have all had an audience with the President!"

"Really!" Jo managed and wondered how her Spencer had enjoyed that experience. She knew that part of him liked to keep in the background but since going to the CACU he'd been thrust into the limelight with the abducted twin case and all that he had uncovered along with that investigation.

"Spencer looks very drained," Marilyn said with concern. She had a soft spot for her niece's husband, just like Margaret had, and looked upon the pair of them like they were her own children.

"He's been so busy since the New Year. It's a good job that we live only a few minutes away from College Park because I would have been worried about him driving the Beltway with the hours he keeps."

"You'll soon have that vacation…Easter will be here within a few weeks. He has been allowed to keep that time off hasn't he?" asked Marilyn worried that all the arrangements might be thrown out of the window due to the all demanding job.

"I've not heard anything to the contrary. He's worked flat out for the CACU…they'd better let him have that break after this…Those poor children…that'll have upset him…he's a big softie," Jo said her eyes not leaving the screen as she watched the news conference.

"65…God Jo its makes you wonder what the world is coming to…There are some big names mentioned in this…Before the President came on, the Washington anchor said that Judge Wiltshire had been arrested and James Jarden."

Jo's eyes widened, the Jardens had rented a very nice town house in Georgetown that was part of the Fairfax Estates Portfolio and was a property that Jo had renovated 18 months ago. She wondered if any of the Virginian judiciary was involved and what her father would think about it all.

Meanwhile, the journalists were full of questions, some Katie passed on to her deputy and Jo felt a glow of pride that her husband had been part of this major investigation.

"The clientele list was very detailed and we successfully arrested all but three of the people listed there," Spencer said authoritatively, the facts easily retrieved from his memory and Jo noticed the suppressed smiles of the FBI agents on the podium. She also thought how he looked like a younger version of Hotch and wondered if, in 20 years time, he would have that same assured air and broad shoulders that carried the weight of years of case experience. Spencer looked weighed down with the burden of responsibility over this case, something that had not been so obvious over the twins case.

Jo already felt like a seasoned FBI wife and had a good network of support with Shelley Kramer, Hayley Hotchner, Elise Anderson and then there was Penelope Garcia. Penelope had become a woman to share a few zany hours with and she helped to make the hours without Spencer disappear when he had to work on a weekend. Also having a childless friend, who understood the pressures of Spencer's work, was invaluable. It meant that Jo was not imposing on a couples time together if she was on her own but she genuinely enjoyed Penelope's sensitivity that was masked by her apparent larger than life 'off the wall' personality.

Spencer calmly answered the questions put to him but was mindful to keep details to a minimum. He stressed that what mattered was that this sex ring had been captured and none of these people were above the law. There had been gasps when he revealed that the evidence collected also included very explicit film of the clients abusing children. He stressed it was such clear evidence that clients could not deny the incidents recorded nor the DVD material found hidden in their homes.

After the hour-long press conference, the President made a point of personally thanking them all again for their professionalism in the line of duty and upholding the law. He was aware that they had been in a situation where socially and professionally prominent abusers would have been tempted to use their influence to intimidate or to try to plea bargain their way out of things.

The Director left with Maskin but Hotch was going to stay to help with the interviewing of the 'clientele' back at College Park. He looked across at Reid as they waited for their car and Katie took the opportunity to hang back in order to ring in to find out about Danielle.

"You handled that very well," Hotch quietly said to Reid and gave him a rare smile as the tired face looked at him…

"I really did OK? I wasn't expecting the President…" Reid readily admitted to Hotch and felt the suppressed tiredness washing over because he was now removed from the centre of attention.

"No, neither was I, but this has rocked the Washington elite. The President was wise to make the appearance he did along side us aswell as being publicly seen to be exonerated from any involvement by the Director. This case had the potential to taint some innocent politicians, fortunately the evidence has been a real 'treasure trove' and a prosecutor's dream!"

"Yeah, Andrea made a bee-line for me earlier to tell me that I was definitely on her Summer Barbecue list! Dee explained, after she'd gone, that her list is very exclusive!" Spencer confided still feeling unsure about the honour.

Hotch grinned broadly, Andrea Erikson was a wonderful prosecutor and her fame in legal circles was legendary. However, she was careful to whom she extended her friendship and Spencer was obviously now going to be placed on the outer rim to that exclusive inner circle of 'special' people that she collected along her career path.

Katie came along just as their car pulled up for them and they piled in with Hotch automatically sitting in the front passenger seat. He rarely ever sat in the back of a vehicle and preferred to drive whenever possible. Hotch was aware that his behaviour hinted at his need to be seen and to feel in control in the field but this wasn't his case and he still couldn't break the habit. Spencer always seemed content to let others do the driving and in the BAU Hotch had noticed that he hid behind the 'distracted genius' look at such times so the team assumed that he didn't want to take the wheel. However, Hotch also knew that Reid could be a competent and careful driver when pressed to drive and had passed his advanced driving sessions without any difficulty.

"How's Danielle?" Spencer asked as soon as Katie was belting herself in the back seat alongside him.

She breathed hard and took a few moments to compose herself before saying in a gentle voice, " The hospital had not been able to stop the contractions and Danielle gave birth to her daughter about an hour ago. She's just 24 weeks…at least they have an excellent premature baby unit there but …well we're all concerned…" she ended, the worry hanging in the atmosphere of the vehicle's confined space.

Spencer nodded and felt totally out of his depth over this news. He did have friends with children and had seen their new borns and joined in the joy of celebrating the new arrival with their parents. But he wasn't sure what to do over this tiny baby and his brain was already recalling all the facts on premature births and the statistics for long-term health defects even if the little girl survived…the odds were…

"Danielle has called her Adele and Danielle herself is under strict orders to rest so she'll be out of things for some weeks from now on but we'll cope. Tony has taken over logging a lot of that evidence from the Torte garage but no one is putting up a fight once they know the extent of the evidence we have amassed. Roy doesn't foresee any problems other than the media fighting to get details…It's why I said that I would give a further and fuller account in a few days time when the dust has settled a bit from the storm of our activity this morning…." Katie glanced at her deputy and she was concerned by his withdrawn silence.

Dr. Katie Cole reached across and briefly touched his bony hand but then felt the young man almost jump out of his skin in reaction to this physical contact.

"Sorry," she whispered apologetically, "You look exhausted, Spencer. We have all been utterly selfish with the expectations we placed on you over this case," she continued with concern, "I'll ask the driver to drop you off at home first and I don't want to see you until lunch time tomorrow at the earliest. We can cope with the moping up operation because of all the hard work you put in breaking the case for us…"

Spencer was grateful for the offer but he also felt guilty, "It wasn't just me, Katie, Danielle just worked away in the office quietly identifying clientele from Gerald's, and then later Nigel's, material. That was just as vital to this case... Even when I'd rumbled the Torte site, it was Danielle who still meticulously worked though checking most of the data while I kept people from disturbing her work by being out in the bull pen. You know we had to keep things very tight to our chest, even from the agents in the unit, because of the names we were uncovering…I just think having a premature baby is a high price for Danielle to pay for her dedication to the job." Spencer's thoughts fumbled along as he tried to explain.

Hotch listened with concern in the front and wondered if Spencer was weighing up the demands of the job now he was married. It happened to all agents at some time, but especially when they were committed in a relationship and usually again if they had children. All agents had to work out the demanding conflicts of the work/home balance for their own particular circumstances. Hotch had worked out a way that his conscience could live with which meant that when at home he gave Hayley and Jack a hundred per cent of his attention and when at work he gave the job total commitment. However, there were still the odd times when there was a conflict of interest and the job took precedence because of the wider public safety or a missing person's life was at stake. The job was demanding and the hours unpredictable at times but the satisfaction, like today, made it all worthwhile when a case could come together with successful arrests and rescued victims. However, all agents knew they had their successes and they were eagerly welcomed but this was off set by the knowledge that there were always more cases waiting in the wings demanding to be solved.

Suddenly Hotch was caught up in the serious atmosphere surrounding Danielle's baby and wondered how he would feel once they had the new baby at home. He had not thought that he would enjoy the work the Director had given him but the more regular hours had been a bonus and the past few days, helping with this case, was a reminder of how demanding the job could be. When Jack had arrived it had been difficult to leave Hayley because Jack was the 'much wanted' baby after so much heartache. Fortunately, by the end of his paternity leave, Hayley could see that he needed to get back to the work for his own sanity and probably for the sake of the marriage too. Hotch knew that the initial wonderment of fatherhood wore off quickly, and the feeling of uselessness rapidly replaced it, as he realised that Hayley was in her element as a mother and her world was now concentrated on the little tyrant who had become central to their world. Hotch loved them both but he also needed his work and perhaps he ought to think more seriously about the experience he was getting with the Director's Special Team and how it fitted into his future career with the Bureau. He was still a career agent and perhaps he had found himself getting into a rut with the BAU and he should use this period outside the Unit to re-assess its place in his life…

The car pulled to a halt and suddenly Hotch realised that he had spent the whole drive completely wrapped in his own thoughts about his family and career. Reid was getting out and Hotch decided to take his place in the back with Katie.

"Get some rest," he said quietly to the younger man as they passed. Reid responded with a tired faint smile and headed up the drive of the small house.

Hotch settled himself into Reid's seat and Katie grinned,

"Why Agent Hotchner this is an honour…"

Hotch winced as he belted himself in, "Right …I'm guilty about the need to feel in control of the operation…"

Katie laughed, "Hell, Hotch, we Unit Chiefs usually do that, I knew you'd want to be in the front and I needed to speak to Spencer…God, I've really worked him into the ground over this case…"

Spencer entered the quiet house and took off his suit jacket and placed it over the back of a lounge chair. His legs seemed heavy and unresponsive and he felt the need to sit down for a few minutes before he tackled the stairs and managed a sleep on the bed. Reid sank into the couch and yawned, his eyes felt gritty with lack of sleep. He'd not been able to wear his contact lenses for days because of the sore eyes. Spencer knew that all these symptoms were the signs of over tiredness…all the natural effect of pushing himself very hard, not just over the past few days but also the last few weeks.

Spencer looked across the room at his neglected lute, safely snug in its case, but he'd not the energy to rescue the instrument, nor the concentration required to give his beloved lute a voice that afternoon. Then he thought fleetingly of turning on the television or putting on a CD but the effort of making a decision, as to what to watch or which music to choose, led to him dismissing the ideas as quickly as they entered his consciousness.

He untied the laces on his black shoes, a simple task but his co-ordination seemed off and he fumbled and got annoyed with himself. Spencer slipped his long slender feet out of the leather and drew his legs up and then stretched out on the couch as if in slow motion. He wanted to stretch out a bit and just appreciate the quietness around him for a few minutes….

Out of the 'Barbie' pink glow came a white-faced fairy creature, with enormous china blue eyes. She stared at him, the blue eyes pleading for gentleness. Her white blond hair looked baby soft but her pink nightdress suddenly came alive and transformed itself into a swarm of blue, pink and purple butterflies heading straight for him. He felt that they were going to suffocate him as they passed through him but once passed he was confronted by the image of the dark haired girl of the white heart-shaped face. As she sank back onto the white satin covered pillows… the pillows seemed to grow bigger and began to suck her into them like a quicksand. Her thin pale arms reached out to him for help, along with the small teddy still held in her left hand. But the teddy suddenly fell away as the pillows engulfed the torso and her face until only the out reaching hands groped the blackness for a friendly touch. There was no sound; the ominous silence magnified the terror of the spectacle. Spencer knew that he had to reach both girls but the butterflies had taken one and the other had been sucked into a satin hell and he was suspended in an existence of silent paralysis.

It was frustrating but he fought against the domineering paralysis; his mind wanted to act but the brain could not make his limbs work to its commands. Spencer was struggling to move his body but the paralysis was now seeping into his brain…the very organ that he valued so highly, the reason for his existence as a genius. But if his brain no longer functioned then he'd be dead and they'd be no Jo, no Craig nor Melinda, Lydia or Ben. The image of his mother's beautiful smiling youthful face was suddenly before him. It then twisted and became the older familiar thinner face, with haunted eyes darting around looking for the hidden watchers who were ready to pounce upon her and take her to their world of greyness and conformity.

Spencer wanted to call out to re-assure his Mom that she was not alone and that there were people trying to help her, not hurt her…But he felt a heaviness pressing on his chest and his life energy was being dragged out of him by an unknown force. Spencer was terrified because he didn't know how to stop it. He pulled all together his last threads of self to resist the force that was trying to destroy him. Spencer gasped for air as he felt himself loosing the battle….

"SPENCER!"

Jo pressed the bony shoulders with all her strength. She had known Spencer to have nightmares before, particularly when they had first met, but they had naturally eased with the lessening of the PTSD. She shook him hard again.

"SPENCER!" Jo demanded, and thought that no job was worth this sort of reaction…

The long slender body shuddered and the breath was shaky as he opened sunken eyes and blinked into the dimly lit room.

Spencer's heart galloped in his chest and he felt sweaty and disorientated for a few moments as his eyes adjusted to the small soft light in the darkened room. His mind told him that it must be evening and the light was from the small lamp on the console table. Spencer felt shaky in his weakness and struggled to reach to calm himself. He concentrated onto his racing pulse and consciously began to breathe more calmly to get it down towards normality.

"Spencer," Jo's voice was quietly concerned, her round face was partly in shadow but he knew that tone.

"I…I'm OK. I …I was having a bad dream…just this case catching up with me."

Jo didn't remove her hands from his shoulders. He could feel the colder deformed left hand through the shirt but it was oddly reassuring in its coolness. This was real, his Jo had come home…he was once more safe in her world.

Jo was speaking again and he focused on her voice, soaking up the goodness of humanity that she represented.

"What time did you get home…Is your car in the garage?" she asked because normally he left it parked on the drive for a quick get away and today Jo herself had taken the train and used taxis.

"No…still at work…I was dropped off here after the press conference. Katie thought I deserved a rest after all the hours I've been putting in recently and I can go in late tomorrow."

Spencer tried to get his brain into to gear but it still felt sluggish.

He remembered his watch and brought his wrist up to eye level. With this movement, Jo released his shoulders but sat back on the edge of the couch still watching him with concerned eyes.

"Jeez…quarter past ten," he said to himself and caught Jo's expression of exasperation.

"Right so please tell me that you have had a good …what 6 hours sleep?"

"Yeah…over 7 hours really, the traffic wasn't too bad once out of Washington. I'd not intended to fall asleep down here."

"Do you want something to eat?"

"No, I'm not particularly hungry," he said softly and felt the desire to touch her. He reached across to stroke her damaged hand. Jo wondered what the hell had actually happened to upset him like this. Spencer was mentally a tough guy, and had some ghastly cases under his belt as an agent, but she knew that all of them dreaded child based cases.

"How about coming to bed? Sleeping on the couch isn't as comfortable as what we have upstairs," she stated with a teasing tone,

Spencer smiled at her attempt to bring him back to their normal life in Berwyn Heights. He nodded and gathered up his long legs before swinging them off the couch and bringing his gangly skeleton to a standing position. Spencer still felt that his limbs were strangely heavy and unresponsive to the commands that his brain sent to them. The man moved with slow deliberation to the staircase and held onto the rail as he ascended. The action was another re-assuring marker that he had returned to his haven of peace from the crazy world in which he worked.

Jo followed a couple of steps behind aware of the laboured movements her husband was making. He had looked under nourished on the television news broadcast and there were dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep that the television make up artists had not been able to completely disguise. Katie looked a little worn out too but all of them from the FBI looked to be feeding off the success of the raid. It had been obvious to Jo that her Spencer would be crashing out at some stage soon because of all the extra hours he had been putting in. It was all very well living on adrenaline and concentrating on the end goal because vulnerable children were involved but eventually it caught up with all the agents.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, Aaron Hotchner turned his car into his road and immediately became alert at the cars parked in the driveway and to the immediate front of his home. He recognised Louise's car in the drive and knew that today was a scheduled ante- natal medical visit. However, there out in front was Caroline's car and Hotch wondered why the oldest sister had come to the house. He decided to drive past and park in a small parking bay that was provided for those occasions when there were extra visitors. This parking bay had never been abused by any of the residents so it was not monopolised by any one particular family and that evening it was empty, as it often was during the early part of the week.

It was almost 9:30 and Hotch knew that Jack would be sound asleep. They were fortunate in having a child, who once past teething, would usually sleep deeply and for a good 12 hours at night. As Hotch walked back to the house, he decided to enter by the back door and hoped that his arrival would go unnoticed so he could gauge the real reason for the three sisters meeting together. The relationship between the three was prickly at times but Caroline, as the oldest, was often able to pull rank on her younger siblings.

He closed the back door carefully and slipped silently towards the unlit the hallway, instinctively following the distant agitated voices. But as Hotch approached he was aware that the voices were coming from the 'family den' and a thin shaft of light, emanating from the room's ajar door, assisted his silent homecoming…

"You've always been the most selfish of us!" Caroline firmly pronounced, "Being the youngest, and prettiest, you were always the favourite of the grandparents. Then there was Dad who spoiled you in a way that he'd never done with Hayley and I. Mom was no better, you were her baby because of the bigger gap between you and Hayley and Mom pampered you and your whims. But its about time you realised that you can't play fast and loose with a promise and a promise is what you gave to Hayley and Aaron…They have been extremely generous towards you and it was you who offered them this child…so there is no going back!"

The words made Hotch's heart skip a beat and his mouth went suddenly dry with the horror of the implication of Caroline's words. He felt his own fear for Hayley's emotional well being rise up and behind it his own anger towards the manipulative bitch who was his wife's youngest sister. He breathed with exaggerated calmness not wanting to burst in on the female gathering.

"You two have always been jealous of me…It wasn't my fault that our parents were better off by the time I was born so I could have the treats you two never had. But this is my baby and I've changed my mind…I never thought I'd feel this way but she's taken over my body and I now feel that I want to have an influence on her life."

"But that's the very thing you said you didn't want…You kept saying that you didn't want your life with Ethan destroyed. You didn't want the baby but couldn't face an abortion…" Hayley's tearful voice tore at Hotch's heart as she tried to remain calm in the face of this betrayal of her own good heart and history of miscarriages. If Louise was going to renege on the agreement that they had there was nothing they could do because legally a court would recognise the biological mother's claim. However, that did not mean to say that he would not try to make life for Louise very difficult for using her sister's desire to have another child despite her medical history.

"Oh no you don't! I'll put it out on the Internet all about your one nightstand and the daughter your having …that should ruin lover boy's position at his fancy school. Mount Braden likes to think that it's a very exclusive and a superior establishment but any hint of scandal will be greedily lapped up by those who can't afford to send their children there. You know that the Principal and Governors will not like that sort of gossip! Afterall, its very bad publicity for them and some parents might even withdraw their children because it sounds more like a sleazy motel than a highly regarded educational establishment…

Then there are those who have disliked that couples' attitude of being 'holier than thou' by being the pushy couple who tell everyone that they are 'committed Christians'. The gossipmongers will have the weapon to destroy that cosy image the deputy Principal and his too cheerful wife have projected to the world. I gather that Jonathan and Zoe are a little too perfect for some parents connected with that school. I feel sorry for her really, I'm not sure that Zoe would like it known that her husband, and the father of her three sons, was sleeping around with a colleague." Caroline's voice sliced through the emotionally charged atmosphere. Hotch heard the gasp of surprise from both Louise and Hayley at Caroline's vicious performance.

"You wouldn't …Couldn't…" Louise's voice sounded unsure, quieter than the strident assertive tones a few minutes before.

"Oh I assure you, I have quite a network of friends and we keep in touch on the social Internet sites. Then there are the women I know on the charity circuit, who have contacts with that school, and they would just love a bit of gossip as they have little else to do. I can promise you that the news about your baby and the real father would spread very quickly and Louise…" The listening Hotch noted the change in tempo and the emotional temperature plummeted even further. Caroline seemed unstoppable, as there were no interruptions from her sisters…

"I can teach you a few lessons about life because, before I get busy on the Internet, I'll ring your Ethan in Hong Kong to tell him just what you've been up to in his absence. Poor man probably thinks, like I originally did, that you are just playing the surrogate for your sister…But how will he take the truth, Louise? He's not the sort of man to accept another man's child and he'd never trust you again…So think hard about the consequences because it would be the end of your long relationship with Ethan... And don't think the family or your friends would rally round to help either because I'd tell the truth to as many people as I could. Oh yes, I can teach you a few lessons about being a first class bitch because I've had to work alongside a few and I've had you to observe over the years so I know your weak spots…

Then there's Aaron…he's the last person you should cross! Aaron loves Hayley, he'd protect her and Jack with his life and now you're backing out of an agreement that he tried to get as legally formalised as possible. Aaron could make you life very difficult if he chose to fight you in the courts. The law may technically be on your side but just think how many people are going to get hurt in this and that includes three innocent boys and their mother and the local press would just love this juicy story."

Hotch stood ramrod straight in the shadows. He was very surprised by the vehement tone that he'd never heard Caroline use before but he didn't doubt her intentions….

"What are you doing?" Louise asked in a tiny scared voice.

"Calling your Ethan to tell him the truth," Caroline replied with an icy calmness, "Have you got his cell number Hayley?"

"Yeah…here it is," Hayley replied, her voice sounded now coolly efficient and reminded Hotch of the assertive highly regarded legal secretary that he had married. But it also brought back memories of seeing Hayley alongside her older sister when they were teenagers. When he had first met Hayley he had thought that she seemed to be in Caroline's shadow and ready to follow her lead without question. But then he began to understand the relationship more. The sisters were less than two years apart in age but looked very alike and they were sometimes mistaken as twins. Hotch had witnessed times when they seemed so totally in tune with each other that words were not needed as their actions silently complemented each others. When Caroline left for College, Hayley had blossomed into her own person and was not so easily manipulated when Caroline returned home for the vacations and the sisters accepted a healthier distance between them. However, Hotch had always considered that he had married the most likeable and gifted of the trio…

Hotch's hearing seemed hyper sensitive in the emotional tension and heard the tiny beeps as the phone buttons were pressed.

Six beeps…

"No…don't Caroline…I'll keep my word!" the youngest pleaded, the panic was unmistakable in her voice.

"Will you? I'm not so sure …You're a selfish bitch and I don't trust you. Hayley is very distressed by all your actions and that's why she rang me. I'm going to be there at your future ante-natal checks and at the birth aswell so you'd better keep your word and what's more, you're going to be staying with me, until the baby arrives."

"But…"

"No buts, Louise, you can't be trusted and you try anything like your exploits today and I ring Ethan, infact, I'm going to have his number on speed dial for both my mobile and home phone. You can keep me company, your nieces and nephews will enjoy having you around and you can get a reality check on what it's really like being a mother. You'd not be very popular once people knew about your antics so you'd be without help and totally isolated. I'm sure it'll put you off keeping Hayley's baby and you'll leave for Hong Kong, like originally planned, as soon as the adoption papers are signed."

Hotch noiselessly stepped back and reached for the hall light, its brightness announced his arrival home to the women. Suddenly Hayley was opening the den door to greet him but he could tell that she was trying to disguise her distress.

"Aaron… I didn't hear your car or you come in…"

I parked in the bay as we seem to have more than enough cars here tonight," he replied slipping his jacket off as he would normally do and made no reference to her agitated appearance.

"Caroline was in the area and dropped by…so we've been having a bit of a chat catching up with all the news and gossip," Hayley said trying to sound upbeat but Hotch knew when she was lying. The husband clung to his normal routine and hung his jacket up in the closet and turned back to her with a smile.

"Well it's nice for you sisters to get together occasionally and I'm sure that you made the most of not having me around to put a masculine damper on things," he said softly reaching out to hug her. Hotch could feel her trembling with the distress she was trying to control and he nuzzled her neck briefly and whispered, "I'm glad to be home…I love you."

Hayley felt the strength that Aaron had always shared with his family alongside the depth of love that had grown from their teenage days. Their relationship had survived through many stresses and strains over the years and Hayley was intuitively aware that Aaron had probably sussed out what was happening….

Hotch gave Hayley a quick re-assuring squeeze and let go. He stepped forward into the room and said in a genial tone, "My… have I walked in on a sisterly get together or the plotting of a sisterly coven?"

Caroline smiled her greeting broadly and smoothly said, "Now, Now Aaron…We've had a lot to discuss and Louise has just agreed to come and stay with me from now on. It will make things a lot easier for everyone because I'll be able to drive her to her medical checks, afterall, she really shouldn't be driving now she's got a growing bump."

Hotch had to admire her performance and noted that Louise was trying hard to look happy about the declared arrangement but there were also signs of her inner tension. The profiler observed the clenched hands, the shaky smile and the eyes that could not meet either of her sisters nor his own.

"How very kind of Caroline and I'm sure that the kids will enjoy having their auntie on tap."

"Oh definitely…another adult to listen to their school experiences and to share their homework with…" Louise played along but didn't sound very convincing to the man's ears.

"Have you eaten, Aaron?" Hayley asked solicitously.

"Oh yeah…it's been quite a tiring few days but the outcome has justified all the frenzied activity. However, we have been kept well fed. I will confess that I've given up thinking about the amount of coffee I've put into my system…I must be well on my way to catching up with Reid!" he replied with a sparkle of humour in his brown eyes for his beloved.

Hayley smiled at the reference to the young genius, "We saw you on the side lines of that media conference… Reid looked thinner than usual and weary but he was very alert when answering the questions fired his way…"

"Oh yes, its taken its toll but Reid is a fine agent and he's had a major success with this case that will boost his future career in the Bureau…."

"Mmmm …He does seem very young but I noticed that he's married. I hope that he has an understanding wife knowing how many hours you can put in," Caroline chipped in giving her brother-in-law a stern look.

"Oh Jo is lovely and very capable in her own career," Hayley replied and Caroline looked at her sister with interest.

"Is she with the Bureau as well?" Caroline probed taking the opportunity to gather whatever information she could use to impress her social network.

"Oh no, she's an interior designer with Fairfax Estates and the daughter of Judge Petersen," Hayley replied and felt a ripple of pride passing through her that she had the friendship of such a talented and genuinely nice woman.

Caroline's eyes widened with the news. Hayley knew that she had surprised her especially as Caroline could be something of a social climber at times and liked to 'name drop'. Caroline was involved with a few small charities and liked to inform Hayley of the minute details if she had attended a charity meeting that had been graced by the moneyed 'ladies who lunch'.

"Oh well connected then! Margaret Petersen and her sister-in-law are very involved in fund raising in this state. Fairfax Estates make donations to various little charities that often get overlooked because they're not as prestigious, or fashionable, as some," replied Caroline and was very impressed and filed away this bit of social gossip. The older sister was well aware that Margaret Petersen and Marilyn Bevan were not the type of women to gossip about their families nor the people that they met socially. However, Caroline also thought that it was very typical of Hayley not to have told her sooner about one of Aaron's agents being married to a Petersen. She had heard that Reid was something of a genius but Hayley was very discreet about Bureau people and you only got the briefest of details out of her about the Bureau staff she might come into contact with.

Meanwhile, Aaron was pleased that his wife had managed to gently remind her sister that she did have her own circle of contacts but she didn't need to 'name drop' to impress. But Hotch was more interested in Louise and was assessing her unusual quietness. It was not often that the self confident Louise was subdued but that was definitely her demeanour at that moment.

"How are you Louise?" he asked giving her his full attention. Louise looked very uncomfortable as he turned his intense scrutiny upon her. Hotch was unflinching in his attention but he felt no real sympathy for his younger sister-in-law for angering her sisters. He had been very careful, when the plan had been first put to him, to give Louise time to re-think but she had been adamant that she didn't want the baby. He made a mental note to call Farah the next day, to tell her of this incident, so if Louise changed her mind at the adoption it would not seem totally out of the blue. Hotch wanted to trust his sister-in-law but his instincts were telling him to tread carefully with this woman and be prepared to catch Hayley from the fallout of Louise's selfishness.

"Oh I'm just fine…the baby's fine…I get a bit tired but these two tell me that's normal. Caroline wants to make sure that I'm getting enough rest and has suggested that I stay with her." Louise played her part not wanting to cross Aaron.

Hotch turned on his most charming smile and was every inch the 'Southern' gentleman, "Oh I would listen to the experience of these two mothers. It's a very generous offer and it will mean that you won't feel lonely as you begin to experience more tiredness and less like socialising outside as you get bigger. With Caroline's wide circle of friends, I'm sure that your days will be filled with people dropping by to keep you entertained. Also having somebody else looking after the driving to the medical appointments, and just doing the mundane shopping trips, will be wonderfully relaxing for you. Hayley would tell me how tired she got just standing at the supermarket checkout waiting to be served when it came to the final 6 weeks before the hospital insisted on bed rest at the end."

Louise nodded and gave a weak smile but Hotch knew that her confidence had been truly shaken tonight and for once in her life she had not got her own way with family members.

"Well, shall I make some more tea?" Hayley cheerfully offered.

"Not for me," Louise quickly answered and it was obvious to those in the room that she wanted to escape, "I think I'd like to start the drive home."

"Yes, I probably ought to get going too. The kids will think I've abandoned them to Stephanie's care…She a lovely girl but they know that they can't manipulate her over bedtimes…Worth her weight in gold as a baby sitter and I just don't know what I'll do when she finishes her master's degree…."

The women departed quickly and Aaron watched the change in Hayley as she closed the front door after seeing both cars disappear down the road.

"Did you over hear when you came in?" she probed as all pretense was gone.

"Not all but enough to know that Louise had changed her mind about handing us the baby," he stated honestly.

Hayley nodded and turned to walk back into the den with Hotch following a step behind. He closed the door and then reached for his wife once more.

"It sounds like Caroline has come to the rescue to pull Louise back into line…I've never heard Caroline speak like that before."

"I know it shocked me too but I just knew that I had to tell her the truth as soon as Louise told me that she was changing her mind about the arrangement. Caroline must have broken the speed limit to get here so fast but she has been so supportive of me…I didn't know who to turn too. I didn't want to call you because I knew you had a big case on…and what a case! It's been the hot news for hours and the news channels keep repeating that midday announcement to the media…

Louise was really twisting the knife in by the time Caroline got here but she didn't have the guts to leave when I told her Caroline she was coming over. Or perhaps I mis-judged her reaction, Louise may have thought that she could get the upper hand with Caroline too. She did try the 'well you know how the maternal instincts suddenly take over' line with her. Caroline was furious over the breaking of a promise. I really think that she will follow through her threat if Louise reneges…and I must admit that I really have no sympathy for Louise. Caroline says that she's been manipulating me all along…"

"Yes she has," agreed Aaron who had come to that conclusion from that very first night when he had come home to find that Hayley had been encouraged to think that she could have Louise's unplanned and unwanted baby. To make matters worse, Jack had been encouraged to see the sonograms and now he was excited about having a sibling like other children at his playgroup.

Aaron Hotchner drew his wife protectively into his arms, "Hey Caroline knows the truth now and she's on our side," he whispered softly trying to sound positive but deep inside he prayed that Louise would keep her word.

Hayley tried to keep her worries under control, "Yeah…I'm glad she is because I'd hate to have Caroline as my enemy."

Hotch nodded and thought that crossing women was a dangerous activity but often it took a woman to effectively pull her own sex back into line.

Morgan drove at the speed limit finally feeling free now that the traffic was really moving after being channelled to a single lane. There had been a 10 vehicle pile up that had necessitated a full range of emergency vehicles which itself led to a snail pace that in turn resulted in a tail-back of a good 5 miles. Those trapped in the tail-back knew that drivers and passengers had to be rescued, and then the scene thoroughly recorded, before the vehicles could be pulled out of the way. But motorists all over the world still resented any hold up to their journeys.

It had been one hell of a day. He had woken up to the great news of a major paedophile sweep in the Capital region. Morgan felt proud to work for the organisation that had scored a major success against such bastards. However, as the day progressed, his mood took several turns. Morgan had felt subdued when he discovered that Reid was central to the intelligence gathering and execution of that operation. It had also not escaped his notice that Hotch had been in on the arrests too…Agent Morgan just felt that his own career was in free fall since the financial cuts had caused the redeployment of certain personnel. Morgan felt that he had worked hard in the FBI and was trying to fit into the new BAU set up under Barry. But they all knew that Strauss was pulling Barry's strings and Morgan had never got on with that woman.

Then there were the rumours throughout the morning at Quantico that Bureau staff had been arrested, a fact that was finally confirmed by the Director at the midday news conference. It was as if the whole of the Bureau was held captive by the news broadcast; rumour was one thing but the confirmation had really rocked people. Although the personnel that Morgan had come across were relieved that no actual field agent was involved, the arrest of 54 civilian staff was still shocking! All those who worked for the Bureau had to pass a comprehensive security check and this turn of events served to emphasise how this was a crime that very easily went undetected even from Bureau personnel checks.

Morgan felt that his day had been dominated by the paedophile arrests. He seemed to be surrounded by FBI workers, who had children, muttering darkly about how as a parent you just didn't know whom you could trust near your kids. While the rumour mill was out of control with an excess of speculation; names were being whispered about but nothing was confirmed or denied by the senior management. The Director had fuelled the speculation at the news conference by finally mentioning a couple of high profile Bureau names but then had quickly concentrated on the political and high profile personalities from other professions.

Then the second shock of the day hit too close to home. At 11:30, a technician in the drug testing labs confirmed that Bradley Tyler had been arrested for his involvement in the paedophile ring and Morgan felt physically sick at this news because he knew the guy. Before too long, there were further rumours about Tyler concerning the calls and texts he had made to a list of Bureau agents and consultants. This 'cell phone' activity had been analysed and found to be suspiciously close to the department drug tests that were supposed to be random. The gossipmongers at Quantico were suddenly experts on the case insisting that, of course, the senior techs in the drug labs knew the dates and venues. It was said that the names on the Tyler list were facing extra drug tests and the Director was ordering a separate investigation. Agent Morgan had felt panic flow through his body and attempted to keep his head down working rather than listen to any more of the speculation. However, at 12:50, Morgan had to endure the looks of his colleagues when Barry had come to his desk accompanied by two unknown 'drug technicians' to be escorted for an extra test. While he produced the required urine sample, Morgan discovered that the Director had specially brought in these technicians from Utah. Morgan surmised from this fact that Tyler's activities had been known for a few days, if not weeks.

Agent Derek Morgan couldn't stop his mind re-visiting the topic. He wondered when the CACU had discovered about Tyler and his lucrative warning messages and if Reid had stood up for him when he came under suspicion. Derek Morgan just didn't know where he stood with Reid anymore. Their relationship had been shaky since he'd convinced himself that Reid was doing drugs and wanted Garcia to break into his medical records to find out if this had been picked up and/or covered up by Gideon, or Hotch, or the psych team who were on his case. He had made one hell of a mess of mis-interpreting things by jumping to conclusions and not quietly discussing his concerns with Hotch. He was very lucky to still be in the Bureau and he knew that the sessions with Erroll Hart had saved his career at that time.

Morgan also acknowledged to his own conscience that this predicament was all due to his own stupidity. He had dabbled in taking recreational 'coke' and 'E' when he had a long weekend. Tyler had assured Morgan that he'd always send him an innocent text message before any weekend if the BAU was on the list for the random testing procedure. He had to pay cash for this information, so that it could not be traced back to the agent, but the arrangement had been well worth it and over the past four years it had all worked smoothly. Morgan had originally met Tyler when they were both attached to the New York office and they had gone out socially on a few occasions so he could claim friendship as the genuine reason for being on Tyler's phone list.

It was during this New York period that Tyler had discovered Morgan's flirtation with the recreational drug scene. There were a lot of professionals, of both sexes, playing this game and they would say that they worked hard and like to party hard too, the drugs just heightened the pleasure. However, none of these professionals would have considered themselves drug addicts. But a steady voice inside him, which sounded suspiciously like Erroll Hart, replied to his unsettled musings that he may not have been an addict, in the usual accepted meaning, but Morgan and his fellow 'recreational' users were addicted to an hedonistic flirtation against the rules.

When Morgan had returned to his desk he was grateful for Emily Prentiss who quietly reached across and said that she didn't believe he was dabbling with recreational drugs. He had managed a weak smile as a thank you for her support. It also gave him the opportunity to tell her and the eavesdroppers that he'd known Tyler for years and that would explain why his name was on Tyler's cell phone list.

The agent turned into his drive and turned off the engine feeling relieved to be home. The lights were already on and he could hear Cluny barking his welcome. Derek Morgan got out and secured the car, grateful that since knowing Angela he'd not taken any drugs and had even kept his drinking at a moderate level to match her own lifestyle.

Derek Morgan was happy for the first time that day. Angela was more than he could ever have imagined in a partner; good looking, intelligent, trustworthy, sweet natured, and stable enough to cope with his work and with a mother and aunt nearby to support her when he was not around. Angela appeared from the kitchen.

"I turned off the television because the news was all about that paedophile case and there was nothing worth watching on the other channels."

"Hey…I'm not complaining, we can have an early night," he replied with his best seductive charm and broad grin. But he was concerned when Angela didn't rise to the usual suggestive bait.

"Angie…is something wrong?"

"Well sort of…I was hoping that I was just being anxious for nothing with all the school work I've had placed on my desk recently…" she said softly and suddenly Morgan's antenna was on full alert. He wondered if she was ill or something was wrong with her Mom or beloved Aunt. It was a tiny family unit that Derek had adopted into his own with ease and he was truly concerned about the women. He went over to her and took her gently into his arms wanting to give his physical comfort for whatever news had upset his fiancée.

"Come on, what's happened today?" he asked softly as he ran his hands gently in circles over her back and felt her tension ease. Angela pulled free to face him and Morgan thought she was being very serious and prepared himself to hear some bad news.

Angela took a steadying breath; she had been practising in her mind all day but she felt unsure about how he would take the news.

"I'm pregnant," she said firmly and thought that her voice had sounded too loud and unemotional for such a tremendous statement. She kept her eyes locked on to Derek's face and suddenly saw it light up with an awesome smile of utter joy.

"Hey Babe! That's fantastic! Wow… we knew that there was a tiny possibility when you had to take that course of antibiotics …This is …when can we tell the family?" he enthused.

Angela stood a little stunned by this reaction, she had thought that perhaps he would be disappointed at this turn of events…

"What…don't you want our baby?" Morgan suddenly asked at Angela's quiet response. His own voice mirrored his troubled thoughts at her subdued reaction.

"I am …I just didn't know how you would feel about it…I mean its not planned but we did take the risk while I had to finish that course of antibiotics…"

But her words of explanation were abruptly cut off by Derek's warm and protective embrace.

"Now listen to me…a hell of lot of life is unplanned but as far as I'm concerned this baby is hardly the result of a one night stand. For me it's the icing on the cake!"

"Oh God, Derek, I've been worrying about it all day thinking that you might not want a child so quickly…" she whispered as her relief flooded through her whole body and she was grateful for his strong arms around her.

"Angie…the pill is notorious for being unreliable with some drugs…it's just one of those things…Its wonderful, I feel great to be alive after all the bad news of today! When shall we tell the family?" he asked his voice full of joy and she could sense his enthusiasm bouncing off the walls.

Angela noted that it was the second time he'd asked that question so he wasn't just acting the part to ease her own embarrassment of the unplanned newcomer in the making.

"I think we could tell Mom and Auntie tomorrow…You know like we could go over in the evening and then ring your Mom from there…"

"Why not go over this evening after we've eaten and, like you say, we can ring Chicago from there…Our Moms will soon take over the call and we will be sidelined as they plot their first grandchild's future," the man enthusiastically assured.

"OK" she agreed because she knew that he'd not settle until he'd told them. But as she returned to the kitchen to busy herself with dinner, Angela thought this had all gone so smoothly…perhaps too smoothly because her life just appeared far too perfect and without the blemish of obstacles at the moment. However, the voice of common sense came to the fore and scolded her for being so negative in the face of a good and loving man. But in the weeks to come those niggling doubts were to bubble up more than once as the baby grew inside her…

End of Chapter 24


	25. Chapter 25

**The Interregnum: Chapter 25**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Max Pentall stretched out his legs as he sat on the couch in his Quantico office. He was coming to the end of yet another in-depth article in the Washington Post on the 'Capital Region's Paedophile Scandal'. The bold headline for the case was very familiar by now but even four weeks on the interest in the story had not lessened. It had been reported on every main news channel every night since the sweep of arrests and the public interest showed no signs of cooling. Max knew that the public couldn't get enough of the details especially because big names had been caught and the gossip seemed endless. The repercussions were still to be felt in many organisations ranging from law enforcement, the military, the judiciary, the government on several levels, members of the medical profession, famous names connected with prestigious charities, and members of cultural establishments associated with the capital's museums, art galleries and university academics. These were people that the public would not have associated with the sordid world of paedophilia but those who worked at catching them knew that a good education and social class did not save you from suspicion nor being an abusive paedophile.

When the arrested had been arraigned before the courts across six states, those courts had been full with television and press reporters eager to record the names of those caught in the sweeps. Then came the hounding of their families, the media seemed to enjoy besieging large luxury homes in the hope of getting a glimpse of the spouse or other family members of the arrested parties. The viewers fed on the diet of this righteous frenzy and were thirsty for any detail about the wider family and the case as a whole. But Max thought that these innocent individuals had been dragged into a hell that was not of their making and was more concerned for the young children that were caught up in the aftermath of the arrests. The next few weeks saw family lawyers stood before house gates and the entrances to exclusive apartment blocks to announce to the assembled media that the wife of such and such, arrested in the connection with the 'Capital Region's Paedophile Ring', was filing for divorce and custody of any children.

Pentall had admired the way that Katie Cole had managed the information to the media and she had always stressed the need for a respectful distance for the rescued victims. She and her team had worked hard to help re-united families to get the necessary psychological support that the victim and family would need for months, and probably years, to come. But most of all, Katie had firmly let it be known that if any of the media over stepped the mark and besieged these victims' families then she would make sure that any offending reporter would be barred from future press conferences with the CACU. So far it had worked but as the names of the children that had died became known some of these parents offered their stories to the highest bidder and this further fuelled the interest in the case.

Max looked towards his open door as he heard familiar voices approaching.

"Ah…help yourselves to coffee gentlemen," he invited in his most cordial manner. Although these two men were very aware that Max had summoned them to report on their observations of the paedophile case on the Bureau staff involved. Max folded the newspaper and placed it on the couch beside him.

Don and Arthur were not gong to decline a mug of Max's best coffee and made themselves comfortable on the couch facing him with the oak rectangular coffee table between them.

Max smiled as Arthur was the last to sit but once he looked comfortable then Max began.

"I'm quite pleased with how this case has been handled and the fall out," he said without preamble.

"Yes, it was a well planned and executed operation and the CACU people have coped with the stresses very well," agreed Arthur who had been at College Park daily to pick up the aftermath of the case.

"Katie was excellent as the Unit Chief," Arthur added enthusiastically because he wanted to give her his support especially after her brief spell away to sort out her 'secret' drinking problem.

Max's eyes met Arthur's with understanding. They both knew that Katie Cole was being carefully watched by the upper echelons and if she had shown any signs of slipping back into drinking, or not coping with such a demanding case, then it would have given the Bureau the ideal excuse for removing her to another position.

"Yes, the Director was very impressed with how she and her unit worked well together and supported each other both during and with the aftermath…But how about the other agents drawn into this case…How's agent Gerald?" Max asked aiming his question to Don.

"Gerald, real name Gregory Gerald Woodley," replied Don deliberately to remind the other two men that the agent did have a real name and persona. "Well his debriefing sessions have gone smoothly. Alex Nicholls has written very detailed reports on the sessions with him and my own interviews with the agent confirmed Alex's assessment. I think Woodley felt a bit disappointed that he was not involved with the final moves but he does realise that the evidence he gathered was just as important as that by those that came after him."

"He was seen after the Rankin raid and Katie couldn't risk him any more on the case. It was best to let the Rankin and his associates believe that Gerald was the weak link in the clientele and that the CACU were just after Rankin's clubs and knew of nothing more beyond that. I think Katie played her cards very well. Especially how she persuaded the Director to let her have Reid to help out on the case, but even Katie didn't realise that he would be so instrumental in breaking the organisation wide open and so quickly!" replied Max with a satisfied smile. "But Woodley's capable of doing more undercover assignments in the future?"

"Oh yes, he's quite happy with the thought of more undercover work but it's likely to be in the Florida area where his face is unknown," Don answered carefully and wondered if he should comment about the time factor.

Max however was already thinking on those lines, " I'm recommending that the Bureau leaves it at least 6 months before he's out in the field again and to work with a totally different case. The Florida area would be ideal although the Director also thought that he might have a role in the California offices."

Don nodded pleased that the agent was being distanced from the area and away from paedophile cases.

"And Agent Nigel?" Max pressed the psychiatrist.

"Nigel Nesbitt has returned home to his family and has stressed that he doesn't want any more under cover work in that field again. The Bureau is more than happy to assure him of this and recognise the service he has given over the years and he's been granted a period of 'down time' with his family. He has been regularly attending sessions with Joel Lansing at the Seattle Office and has freely admitted to feeling totally drained by the paedophile cover he had to use. Seattle want to keep Nigel, or rather Agent Nesbitt, and put his field experience to good use but in an administrative position…something like co-ordinating intelligence for one of the organised crime units."

Max nodded sagely, "Oh I would think that will be quite feasible and very wise of him to realise that he wants a change. I don't think the agent should be faced with any more under cover work, he's finished that side of things on a very big high and his work has only done good for his future career with the Bureau. Nesbitt really should concentrate on making up for the time away from his family while he can before he's re-assigned to a desk job."

" Yes, Lansing and I both agree on recommending a desk position now. He was very convincingly in his undercover role but it has taken its toll," replied Don and sipped his coffee thinking that both of the under cover agents, who had been unaware of each other in the field, had been excellent at gathering data for the case. However, the psychiatrist then chose to change direction away from the undercover agents.

"How's Spencer Reid?" Don suddenly asked because by spending time with Gerald and Nigel he had not seen the talented profiler since the case had broken.

"He's held up really well," answered Arthur, "Like for all of the CACU agents its emotionally tough and he doesn't like the work as much as he enjoys being with the BAU. But he has certainly left his mark in that Unit and has the respect of the other agents and civilian personnel there. Katie has been very generous with her praise of how he has stepped in to cover for Danielle and has been an able deputy. The support he quietly gave his fellow agents has also been noticed and appreciated. Spencer Reid's a natural psychologist and could easily cross over to us in the future. The Unit had confidence in him as soon as they met him and Jo…that openness was just right for that situation as Katie and Danielle both commented. Katie was particularly pleased that he made the effort to be approachable straight away because she'd thought him very guarded about himself when she had worked with the BAU on an earlier case. However, she strongly hoped that once away from the BAU he would blossom more into himself…."

"Oh yes, it appears that he has definitely done that but then he really played that 'quiet card' for his own ends…" Don reminded the other two men who both nodded in unison.

"Yes, but they'll be no going back to that 'wall flower' or dreamy geeky genius role now…He has had too high a profile in the media and proved himself away from the BAU…" Max agreed and felt a glow of satisfaction that the talented profiler had prospered away from Quantico.

"As Adam Priest remarked to me on Monday, the BAU will not know him when he returns to them. But Hotchner seems comfortable with this more dominant Reid and told me that the secondment has been beneficial both for Reid and the BAU. His former colleagues will have to realise that he isn't a kid or a shy young man but a very capable and extremely clever agent who has proved himself in another tough Unit." Arthur said sipping his coffee and meeting Max's probing look.

Max nodded, he was very aware as to what Arthur was thinking and was pleased that he had taken the time to ask for Hotch's assessment of Reid now the paedophile case was tying up the loose ends. But Max also knew that Dr. Reid had been very forthright with the Director earlier when he wanted to assign him to Counter Terrorism because his computer skills in cryptography would be useful there. The Director had not expected the firm negative response that it was not his preferred expertise and furthermore that it would be a waste of his obvious profiling talents. Max was delighted that Reid had made a stand against being pushed into an obviously very important national security area but narrowing down to concentrate upon cryptography was not Spencer's view of his career. Although the Director persuaded him to step into the breach for a few weeks, Reid had got the firm assurance that it would be only until they had moved people around the world in order to finally get the man they wanted in Washington. Dr. Spencer Reid had even held out for a definite date concerning the matter and he was for the moment attached to the Washington Field Office, but spending much of his time at the Pentagon. Fortunately, the Director was impressed by the younger man's stance and told the story to Max with humour against himself. However, the Director further added said that he sensed he might have had a resignation on his hands, although Reid had not mentioned the word, it had obviously hung in the air. The Director decided that it was far wiser to have Reid with the Bureau than being picked up by another agency or have him drop out completely and go into professional clinical psychology, or academia, where he might be reluctant to be dragged back as a consultant.

Don's voice broke through Max's musings…

"It's been over a year since the Hankel case…Reid's come a long way hasn't he?" the psychiatrist stated with quiet satisfaction.

Arthur's eyes twinkled; the sessions at the Clinic had forged a trust between the three of them to help Spencer Reid come out of his experience a stronger individual.

"It's a good feeling to know that all our hard work was not mis-placed and he's stable despite the pressures he's been under at the CACU." Arthur replied feeling very proud that he and Spencer had regularly shared lunch, when he had first arrived at College Park, and then a coffee at the end of the day when the pace of cases became more demanding.

"He's been accepting support from the psych team over the big case?" Don probed because he hadn't been involved with the immediate support of the CACU people.

"Don, Spencer Reid's been sensible enough to know when he needs to unwind with a talk over coffee before going home. Spencer had been the ready listener for the agents in the Unit but he regularly dropped by my office and I know he's got his strategies for coping with the pressure. Then last week, he got called to the Washington Office but Hotch is based there so I'm sure he'll keep an eye on him and well Max is often around there with his ear to the ground…"

"Arthur! You make me sound like some eavesdropper!" Max protested but Arthur wasn't put off.

"Max…we all know that you're considered the 'Eminence Gris' of the Bureau," countered Arthur.

Max peered at him solemnly and then suddenly grinned and raised his hands in mock submission.

"My Anna wouldn't believe you," he said in his own defence but the other two men gazed at him with amusement.

"How long is he there for?" Don asked wondering what the Director was doing with the genius now.

"Only until his vacation in April…he's just covering for a cryptographer until the new permanent post holder is debriefed from his role based in Europe and brought up to speed here…" Max carefully said.

Arthur's eyes opened wide, "Katie didn't say what he was doing and Spencer had kept it vague but I guess he has had to fill the gap after arresting Tennison and our expert, Wilmott."

Max nodded, he knew that Arthur and Don wouldn't say anything about the matter outside that office.

"So how's Katie coping without her deputy and 'acting deputy?" delved Don who felt that Katie Cole had enough pressures with the work of her Unit without loosing capable assistants.

"Tony and Amanda are holding the line together like they did when Danielle had her first maternity leave. It's a closely knit Unit and the success of the 'Capital Region's Paedophile Ring' arrests has boosted morale and they have weathered the pressures of the extra hours and mountain of evidence to be processed." Arthur answered, "Reid getting Austin Shields to tell him where the bodies had been buried was the icing on the very big cake for the CACU…Carl Miyake was so proud to be in on that interview and entertained the Unit with his version when they got back. The bodies dumped at sea are never going to be found but at least we have to thank the Tortes' meticulous book-keeping for the names and the sites Shields mentioned rang true providing the same number of bodies the Tortes had listed too."

"Reid really has made a name for himself away from the BAU, are you sure he wants to go back to Quantico?" Don aimed the question at Max.

"Spencer told Maskin that he did and I don't think the West Coast holds much attraction to him, especially as Jo's family are in Virginia, although he would be closer to Nevada. But I think Spencer sees himself as principally a profiler who can call upon his other talents to speed up an investigation," Max quietly asserted.

"He could get another book out of this," Arthur suddenly chipped in.

Max smiled at the thought, perhaps Reid would write down his thoughts about the case but he suspected that he would leave it several years before he ever thought about seriously opening up wounds for the victims and their families. There would probably be others, especially any journalist on the case, who would be tempted to take the opportunity to earn a fast buck. The public was insatiable for detail about this notorious case and there in lay the danger of the victims being further abused in print.

"Actually Arthur…Spencer Reid might lecture about it but a part of me thinks that our Dr. Reid will be reluctant to open such wounds for the victims and the families with a book. There is a lot of hurt and some of those wounds are going to leave deep scars," Don replied quietly thinking that Spencer Reid was not the sort of man to just trade on the misfortune of others. "But I was thinking that there was the anniversary of the Hankel case around the arrests of the paedophiles…I was wondering if Spencer had any bad flash backs at that time?"

Arthur turned to Don and said quietly, "I was keeping a close eye but he was so busy with all the arrangements and then the way he interrogated the perpetrators assigned to him…Now that is something else that has gone down in the history of the CACU. He was just not taking any of the usual delaying tactics of the prisoners and shattered their hopes of plea bargaining straight away. It was quite breath taking to watch from the observation room; the usual gentle softly spoken Reid was suddenly a cold spear of justice going straight through the rotten heart of the perpetrator. You ought to watch the films and the way he dealt with them and some very high powered lawyers."

"So he didn't seem to have any reaction at all to the Hankel episode?" pressed Don.

"Not that was noticed on the job," Arthur carefully replied, " But Spencer came for a chat before going home on the third day into processing the arrests. He said that it had suddenly hit him that he'd passed the anniversary of his abduction. I pressed him to see if he'd had any flashbacks and he said that he'd thought all along that he would around the time but he'd been so busy with the case. The man had been working flat out to break the Torte site and once he had then all that information had to be processed. Then suddenly there were arrangements that had to be put into place to rescue the children and capture the whole of the paedophile ring. Spencer admitted to me that he was so exhausted when he got home at night that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He had some unsettled dreams but, not about the Hankel kidnap, they were always about the children on the Torte site. It was noticed that he was regularly working 18 hour days throughout January and February. A few days before Spencer was re-assigned to Washington, he did say that there was only once that he'd had anything like a flashback but it had been very fleeting when he and Agent Miyake went to the first site Shields had used to dispose of bodies. It was in a wooded area and walking through the damp air early in the morning made him suddenly feel very cold and the smell of the rotting undergrowth reminded him of the old graveyard where Hankel had kept him. However, Spencer stressed that he'd not actually had a full-blown flashback at that time but it was just like his brain was acknowledging the past. The morning it had happened, it was easy to force his brain to concentrate on the task in hand because he was with a team of agents and crime scene operatives, all eager to reach the site, and Miyake was talking about their interviews with Shields."

"But he seemed confident about re-visiting the Hankel memory?" Max asked double-checking although he felt sure that if Arthur had been concerned he would have mentioned it earlier to him.

"Oh yes! We did talk about it that evening and I raised it again before he left for Washington. Spencer was reflective but said that he had the odd memory surface, usually when around dank leaves just like when he was at the Clinic. However, it was not like going into a full panic but rather like having a fleeting sense of unease and he would automatically go through his controlled breathing exercises and it would pass. There are still times when he has the unexpected nightmare but he usually wakes up to find Jo with him now anyway and she has helped him to get everything into perspective again just by being there. Spencer feels that his life has changed so much since Hankel that the hold it could have has been reduced by the positive life experiences he has since had. He acknowledged that the abduction is part of his Bureau experience but he also felt he was a far stronger person now because he'd returned to the BAU and had even moved on to hold a difficult post in the CACU. Basically, Spencer had been so busy that he'd not realised that the actual anniversary had passed as I mentioned earlier."

"Good, I think we all gave him excellent therapy at the Clinic and the necessary support once he left. I had hoped that he'd get through this first anniversary without too many problems. It appears that being exceptionally busy at the CACU has helped to push those difficult memories to one side not to mention the compartmentalising! However, we mustn't get complacent because those memories could return when least expected, especially once the pressure of work eases, so we had better just keep an eye on him." Max stated carefully.

"You don't think he'll turn to us for help?" Don queried.

"I didn't say that…I hope he will. Arthur here says he has been open about chatting with him before going home during that stressful time at the CACU. Now that's a very good sign and I'm hoping what we did for him has laid the foundations of trust that's going to be continued. But we all know what agents are like, they are just reluctant to come near us in case we remove them from the field despite trying to get it through to them that we're really here to keep them in the field as long as possible. Afterall, it costs a lot of money to train an agent so the Bureau doesn't want to waste them! Lets remember that Spencer Reid does have one foot in the psych camp and has shown himself to be very good at supporting his fellow agents… But Spencer has also used us to give him support in this past year so long may this behaviour continue," replied Max and observed the other two men nod their assent but each was momentarily lost in their own thoughts on the subject.

"Well gentlemen, lets discuss the latest round of psych assessments," said Max suddenly becoming the decisive Head of Mental Health Services and ready to get down to the rest of the business of that day.

Katie sat at her desk in College Park looking over the detailed reports. She missed Reid already because he had been quietly efficient and his supportive presence in the bullpen was equally keenly missed. She didn't know if he'd be coming back after Easter but his brief secondment had been more than worth the fight with other units who had wanted him. In fact, Katie felt that the Reids' would be missed because they were a couple who were genuinely liked and fitted in well with the social networks in their area.

Katie had seen Josh Kramer yesterday at a meeting concerning the possible organised crime racket into baby trafficking from Eastern European states; the Russian Mafia appeared to be manipulating the trade according to Kramer's Unit observations. But Josh had also mentioned that he missed not seeing Spencer on a Saturday afternoon and Shelley missed Jo just dropping by when working from home for a break. The Reids' had returned to Alexandria while Spencer was based in Washington and he was commuting by train, like Jo. Josh further added that they had still kept the Berwyn Heights house because Spencer thought that he would be back at the CACU when he returned from his vacation. Katie wasn't so sure even if both she and Josh hoped he would be because they'd appreciate his skills with the 'trafficking case'. However, Katie felt she had been very fortunate to have got her way once and didn't think her wishes would get the priority treatment again…even if the placement had more than justified the inter-departmental arguments….

The Director had spent the morning discussing government funding. The recent high profile success of the Bureau had reminded both senators and congress representatives of the importance of a well-funded FBI. His Special Task Team had done a wonderful job in a short space of time by co-ordinating data from the different field offices concerning the immediate effects of the cuts. They had produced a very lucid report that further predicted the possible medium and long-term consequences of the financial shortfall in funding. No one on the Finance Committee controlling public money was talking about further cutting their portion of the public purse and they were giving 'Homeland Security' a good run for the re-instatement of some of the funding that had been suddenly taken from them the previous year.

He felt very proud of the Bureau and the successes that it had achieved recently. The CACU had been a very useful weapon against those favouring spending cuts because the emotive issue of children always meant publicity. There had been very good publicity due to Dr. Reid's work in solving the crimes of the abducted twin cases over decades then that success was quickly followed by the breaking of the paedophile ring in the Capital area. The CACU's work had all been a godsend. The rescued victims were still being talked about and some of the high profile abusers were an embarrassment to government. Those that wielded power were feeling vulnerable because they didn't want to be seen by the public that voted them in to be short-changing the organisation that had found lost children, and solved the mystery of abducted twin babies, and rescued the sexually abused. The Director actually felt optimistic about getting the funding restored for the first time since the summer.

The Head of the Bureau let his mind wander over recent staffing issues. He was aware that Katie Cole wanted Reid back, especially until her deputy was over her maternity leave. Dr. Cole did have a valid argument but she had coped without an acting deputy with Danielle's first pregnancy so the Director knew the Unit would cope again. He also didn't want to send Hotchner back to Quantico yet because he wanted to give Strauss enough rope to hang herself. Meanwhile, Reid was far too useful and the Director wanted to keep him close to more important matters than just under Strauss's thumb. Perhaps he should let him help Kramer and his Organised Crime Unit because he would still have one foot in Katie's camp over the 'trafficked' children, however, 'Counter Terrorism' were impressed with him and wanted to deploy him within their field of interests. The Director sighed and decided that perhaps he would discuss things with Maskin when he got back from the National Security meeting at the Pentagon.

Victor Lewinsky sat at his desk finishing his report of his latest batch of interviews. He had been brought in from the Dallas Office to take charge of investigating the list of agents who had been on Bradley Tyler's cell phone. Lewinsky was a very experienced field agent with 23 years of Bureau service under his belt and considered this assignment a matter of honour for the FBI. He was proud to have been pulled in by the Director to investigate this angle of the fallout of the massive paedophile case. It was still a hot topic at the Bureau and Katie Coles's CACU was riding high on the success. However, he had personally to look at totally different crime. The majority of the agents owned up to breaking the Bureau's anti-drugs policy when they saw the detailed logs of calls that were suspiciously close to tests and lab checks had confirmed that Tyler often personally tested the samples from the names on his list. Some of the personnel had been caught out by the extra tests following Tyler's arrest. Tyler for his part had kept his silence on the matter but the agents who co-operated quickly all told a similar tale and the pattern was repeated as Lewinsky went down the list. Some agents claimed that they were genuine friends of Tyler and this necessitated further checking. It appeared that three so far could claim a genuine friendship status and had been seen in social settings together or were known to 'hang out' with the senior laboratory technician. There was still the grey area of suspicion concerning if they were drug users but the surprise tests had been negative in the cases of these three agents and Lewinsky was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.

He was just finishing his report on Agent Derek Morgan who had been adamant about being a friend of Tyler's and had told Lewinsky about the things they used to do in New York when they were both working at the Field Office there. The details had all checked out and even Tyler had confirmed the friendship, right down to the wedding invitation that he could no longer attend. Morgan himself was quite upset to find that Tyler had been a participant of the paedophile ring. The agent had forcibly said that he had not suspected that Tyler had paedophile tendencies when in New York and he certainly wouldn't have invited him to his wedding if he'd had any suspicion. The agent had made a point of mentioning how both he and his fiancée were very upset that one of his friends had been arrested in the sweep and still couldn't believe it. Angela had said that she felt physically sick that the man had been to their home and shared a meal with them. Lewinsky had made a point of interviewing the fiancée alone and thought that her reaction was genuine especially because she taught young children. He had liked the woman and hoped that the couple would be happy together.

Meanwhile, Erin Strauss was awaiting his report because six of the 'suspect' agents came under her overall supervision. Aaron Hotchner expressly wanted to hear his findings on Morgan and added that he needed to know so he could pass on the information to Dr. Spencer Reid, who had been keeping a discreet distance since discovering Tyler's activities. Hotchner had approached him personally to explain the situation and Lewinsky sympathised because any Unit Chief would feel the same way even if technically Hotchner was no longer with the BAU. However, things were quickly seen to be going in Morgan's favour because the surprise drug test was clear. Consequently, Derek Morgan had been amongst the three who had not been suspended without pay pending a disciplinary hearing like the others. So far some twenty agents were facing dismissal and with it loss of their pension benefits and good references.

Two weeks later….

Jo sat in the passenger seat of her Lexus while Spencer drove. They were going to call in on Derek Morgan and his fiancée to deliver the landscape she had painted for a wedding present. They could honestly say that they couldn't stay long because they were going to Sunday lunch with her family and she wondered if Spencer had deliberately chosen today to deliver the painting.

Jo had not met the couple before but she knew that some of Derek's actions in the past had annoyed her husband however, that was in the past now. So much had happened since the cuts for everyone and life had moved on. Jo felt content to be once more in Alexandria, it was her favourite place to be with its outlet for her art and nearer to family and old friends. She was determined to keep in touch with the Kramers and then there was Faye and visiting Danielle at the hospital, while she worried about baby Adele, had forged another friendship.

Spencer drove happily, at ease to listen to the Bach cello suite No.1 in the CD player, and was not in the mood for small talk. Jo was content to let her mind wander around her own thoughts. They would soon be going on their belated honeymoon, as the family liked to think of it, but for Jo it was an opportunity to introduce Spencer to her British friends and some of the places that she loved in Europe.

The past few weeks had found Spencer based in Washington but he never spoke about his work and she sensed that he was not able to discuss it. He had merely told her that he was just filling in until the new man arrived. However, Spencer did say that it was different to profiler work and relaxing because it was a change to the recent stressful experiences but he wasn't totally happy with the desk job. Jo was relieved that he had gained a little of the lost weight and he was sleeping better but the news was still dominated by further snippets concerning the victims of the paedophile ring.

Spencer swung the Lexus into the driveway and she found herself outside a modern town house and could hear a dog barking an enthusiastic greeting. The front door swung open before she had her seat belt unclipped and a handsome tall and muscular black American grinned with his obvious pleasure at seeing them.

"Hi great to see you Reid and this is Jo!" he beamed giving her his full attention.

He was opening the car door and she noted his skin was not as dark as she had imagined it would be. Jo also saw that he had an easy charm about him that signalled 'macho and flirt' to her.

"It's been a long time Reid and a pleasure that you would call by on your way to a family lunch," Morgan said and Jo thought it all sounded very genuine and wondered about the past antagonisms between the two men.

"We've the present in the back…We had to put the seat down to get it in," Spencer said amused by the look of surprise on his former colleague's face as the younger man went round to the rear of the car to open up.

"I could do with some help," Spencer pointedly said and Jo couldn't help but giggle.

"It took us longer than expected to manoeuvre it in," she added with her dark eyes twinkling with mischief. Morgan instantly responded to her warmth and sense of fun that the unusual very dark eyes implied.

"You mean the genius made all these calculations as to the correct angle to approach the opening and the correct way to hold the present for maximum and efficient purchase," he expanded solemnly.

"Yeah…the usual!" she replied and the two of them laughed while Spencer pretended to grumble about people who chose large gifts without the thought of how to transport them.

The two men carried the large wrapped article carefully inside…

"I guess it's a painting," said Morgan as they carried it into the large kitchen come dining room. Cluny made friends with Jo while the men placed the wrapped parcel on the floor but leaned it against the dining table.

"Hello…I'm Angela," a voice said from behind them and Jo turned to look at a striking beauty. Angela was taller than Jo who had instantly noted that the very open face betrayed all her emotions. At that moment she was radiating her warmth and pleasure at seeing them.

"Jo" the smaller woman answered and reached out to shake the proffered hand. She noted the beautifully manicured nails and the natural elegance that this woman had in the way she held herself and her softly curved figure that showed off the simple lilac linen dress.

"I hope you like your wedding gift because I chose it and Spencer agreed when he finally came home!"

Angela grinned, "The lives of agents…its amazing just what we end up doing for them isn't it… and even more amazing that they coped with life until we came along!" replied Angela, "Is it a painting?"

Jo nodded, "Now you two have got to open it together," she instructed from the sidelines and Spencer stepped back to join her.

"It's heavy," protested Morgan as he took the weight against his legs as he leaned in to start removing the protective outer layers beginning with the gold wrapping paper.

"Some of that weight is the solid oak frame…You're going to have a lot of bubble wrap for future use," muttered Spencer.

"Oh that's no problem it will always keep and can be used to protect future presents mailed to Chicago," Morgan replied as he and Angela tackled the outsized parcel.

The landscape was finally unwrapped and the couple stood back and stared at it in awe. It was a large painting and full of depth and colour.

"It's a JEM!" whispered Angela in shock at the generosity of the gift. "I've heard that JEM only uses a dealer at the Torpedo Art Factory as an outlet and JEM's can command quite a price tag. This must have been…" and then closed her mouth as she realised that this was indeed a gift that would only grow in value because the artist's reputation had already spread beyond Virginia and Washington DC.

"I couldn't resist it and thought of you two. Spencer said that Derek had this spacious town house and I thought that if you didn't like it that you could always find a spare room to put it. You could always sell it later and make a profit or buy something you really wanted," explained Jo but she was pleased that they seemed to genuinely like it.

"Sell it! I wouldn't dream of it…Its beautiful, it reminds me of the Blackwater Falls in the Monongahela Forest," said Derek who was captivated by the scene. "You can almost hear the water," he continued in awe and reached out unconsciously to hold Angela's hand as they continued to be drawn into the scene.

"I just don't know how to thank you both…It's a unique and wonderful present…" he said groping for words and Spencer beamed at the pair knowing that it was a rare occurrence to reduce Derek Morgan to silence.

"Well Jo and I had discussed getting something that would be unusual and …well Jo came up with this and I have to admit I like JEM's work and I bought a couple for my apartment before I met Jo," he smoothly began to fill in for the embarrassed couple. " I have a painting of St Marks in Venice in the bedroom and an abstract canvas called 'Northern Lights' in the living room. I couldn't resist either of them when I saw them but JEM's work goes very quickly so you just have to buy things when you see them."

"Yes, and I had a couple of JEMs that I put in the Berwyn Heights' house. They have grown in value since I put them up so enjoy it…"added Jo.

"It would look perfect in the lounge area on the next floor," Angela suddenly said finding her voice once more.

"Yeah you're right…on the long wall beneath the console table. Reid and I will go and put it up and you two ladies can get to know each other…" answered Morgan who suddenly bounced into action and within a few minutes had found a drill and a couple of heavy duty picture hooks. "We'll take up the picture first," Morgan ordered the younger man who merely nodded and smiled. This was the usual all action Morgan who needed to see a result quickly.

"I'll get the coffee started," stated Angela and Jo followed her over to the furthermost kitchen counter.

Twenty minutes later the ladies were talking like friends and were called up to admire the men's work. Jo stood beside Spencer and slipped her hand into his as they watched Angela's serene beauty light up the room as she admired where Derek had hung their present.

"You know we have a little gift for you too," Derek said and Spencer was aware of a humble quality to his voice that he'd not heard before.

"When we heard of your marriage we wanted to get you a little something from us and hoped that one day you'd come so we could give it to you." Angela smoothly continued.

"How very thoughtful," Jo softly replied.

Angela slipped out of the room and quickly returned with a small box wrapped in gold and silver paper with a bright royal blue ribbon that she gave shyly to Jo. She turned to Spencer and placed the box in his hand while she tugged at the ribbon and then carefully opened the revealed royal blue velveteen box. Jo and Spencer grinned together in delight.

Jo reached into the box and brought out a silver coloured napkin ring and examined it carefully, there was an engraved decoration that looked like a humming bird. Spencer lifted out another and turned it to reveal a different bird, this time a falcon.

"How unusual," Spencer said softly and felt that this was a much-considered gift, "We don't have a set of napkin rings for special occasions and these are very fine."

"Of yes, the engraving is exquisite…Quite beautiful and each one a different bird," added Jo turning another ring over in her palm to examine it and the woodpecker image.

"It was very kind of you both to think of us especially as we had an extremely quiet ceremony on purpose because we are unfussy people and didn't want anything elaborate."

"Yeah... Reid you were always the dark horse on the team and very secretive about your private life," remarked Derek and Spencer felt that it was said in an apologetic tone.

"No, I wasn't the only one…Hotch and Gideon were the same, their off duty lives were separate to the work and the team. Mine still is to keep sane!" he admitted and Morgan gave a sad smile at the truth of the statement.

Derek Morgan then suddenly added, "You said that you were hoping to see Gideon while you're in England?"

"Yes, we fly out on Tuesday and we'll be visiting some of Jo's friends. Gideon's living and working in Cambridge and I have permission to give a few lectures while I'm there…One about my book and others about criminal profiling at the Bureau and some of the cases. Gideon says that the paedophile case has been all over the British news so students, police and staff are eager to hear about that case …even in vague terms. They also know about the twins case so they have booked a large lecture room because they expect a good audience."

"Wow…quite the celebrity!" Morgan said at the news.

"Yes, unfortunately it goes with the high profile of the job I was doing at the CACU but I was just glad to get home at the end of the day. Give me BAU case loads any day…A continual diet of child cases was getting unpalatable…" Reid replied with feeling. Morgan looked at him closely and saw the genius in a different light. He now looked older and more of a man who had the cares of the world carefully balanced on his shoulders.

Morgan admitted to himself that this was a Reid that was more than his equal as an agent and was in fact someone who had been placed in a higher position than the one Morgan presently held and had coped. Derek surprised himself in feeling no actual jealousy now he was in the same room as Reid. He could see for himself the transformation of the younger man since his secondment. There were no nervous mannerisms that had characterised Reid in the BAU…or at least the pre-Hankel Reid Morgan's conscience corrected. Reid had excelled away from Quantico and Morgan realised than the Bureau would not be able to put Reid back into the BAU as a lowly agent. It burned through Morgan's consciousness that the genius was being primed for the Senior Psych position in the team…the very position that Gideon had once held. But how did he really feel about that, did he want to be ordered around by Reid? When Reid had been called to be re-assigned, there had been those few minutes when the BAU bullpen raised the possibility of the genius being made a senior psych and Morgan had rejected the idea. However, it had been Prentiss who had told him firmly that promotion was about ability and not about just the length of service.

These troubled thoughts bubbled around in his head but then he felt guilty that the thoughts were even there when he saw how well Reid and Jo were interacting with Angela. He heard Angela tell them about the baby and witnessed their warm congratulations but deep in Morgan's heart he felt a disappointment about his own career.

Spencer noted the subtle change in Morgan's mood and wondered what he had done wrong or was he unsure about the expected baby? Angela was obviously delighted with the news and suddenly the two women were talking about children and Jo brought Melinda's pregnancy into the conversation and Spencer switched off to concentrate on Derek Morgan.

"You're a very fortunate man," Spencer stated to the older agent who looked surprised at being addressed.

"Sorry…I was miles away," Derek replied playing for time to recover from his thoughts.

"Your baby…Melinda, that's my sister in law, is expecting her third in the summer and I wondered if Jo might suddenly get broody," Spencer softly confided.

"Yeah…Well we hadn't planned it but we didn't take any extra precautions when Angie was taking a course of antibiotics. The doctor had warned us but we decided that if it happened it wouldn't be the end of the world for us…and it isn't," he hastily ended wondering if Reid's work at the CACU had made him hyper vigilant where children were concerned.

Spencer smiled sensing that Morgan was unsettled about something but he didn't think it was the baby. Reid thought that perhaps he was embarrassed by the painting because it was such a large gift and somewhat ostentatious.

"It was very thoughtful of you and Angela to buy us a gift and we will use those napkin rings when we have dinner guests, they are very unusual." Spencer quietly re-assured and felt more comfortable when he saw Morgan's eyes glow with delight.

"I knew we had to find something unusual and there they were at a metal craft fair, they're only pewter but I thought the craftmanship of those rings was good."

"Morgan…they are beautifully made and Jo knows about these things. She's always on the look out for the unusual, not only in her line of work, but for our home aswell," the younger man replied earnestly and hoped that Morgan believed him because he knew that Jo was sincere in her appreciation of the gift. "They are a treasured gift as far as we're concerned and even more so when we had not expected anything."

"Hey…We didn't expect a JEM…I can't even imagine the…"

"Then don't," Spencer cut in, "Jo felt it was perfect and I agreed. Afterall, you can always sell it to pay for the little Morgan's college fees!" he suggested with a mischievous grin. It reminded Morgan of the young man he had met when he had first transferred into the BAU. It had been a time when Hotchner had himself recently been appointed as the Unit Chief and Gideon had been initially on sick leave, and then grounded to teaching, after the Boston bombings. Reid had a 'genius' reputation even then but they had lost the old 'away team' at Boston and Reid had not been on that case due to illness. Morgan had noticed how Reid still seemed to defer to Gideon when the older agent returned to work and Gideon treated him differently to everyone else in the Unit.

"How's the BAU these days?" Reid suddenly changed the subject to get away from babies and wedding gifts.

"Strauss is really in charge but Barry is the buffer. That woman sweeps in as if she owns the place and straight to Barry's tiny office. He's never moved out of it and Hotch's office remains empty, just like Gideon's…It's strange really because it's as if their ghosts are with us despite the new regime and the lack of an away team."

Reid nodded with understanding. He suspected that he himself was merely a pawn within an elaborate game of chess being played by the upper echelons with their own power struggles. He had been quite prepared to fight his corner with the Director and would have resigned if he'd not got the assurance that working as a senior cryptographer for National Security issues was very temporary. He reminded the Director that he had turned down the CIA at 17 because he didn't want to work in cryptography, despite his first doctorate in mathematics, and hastily departed to work on his second doctorate in physics at Harvard. Spencer felt that the 'Big Boss' had got the message even if the man had been stressing the rising concerns from those dealing with national security about cyber warfare from China. Cyber warfare was an important issue but Dr. Spencer Reid was very aware of his own worth and interests and knew that he could get a job anywhere in the world with any of his doctorates and experience within the Bureau. However, he mused, he could always completely change direction and choose a totally different career path that involved none of these past areas of expertise.

Spencer realised that Morgan was talking once more and shut down his own rambling thoughts.

"Garcia keeps herself busy and has been working with the 'white collar' crime people because they have been inundated with extra work. At first they just brought stuff down to her office then she actually moved up to their floor so she could be closer to the action. Couldn't blame her really because she wasn't being kept busy in the same way as she had been with an 'away team'. We've had several replacements in her room over the months just doing stints at the BAU to taste the kind of work before being moved on to another unit.

Prentiss is still happily beavering away but then I think it suits her to be at Quantico because of her private life. She's still seeing that widower, called George, and they hope to come to the wedding. J.J. got seconded to the West Coast and Prentiss says she's enjoying the work there and getting quite a suntan aswell. J.J. says she can't get away to come to the wedding but she's sent a present that Garcia is bringing on the day.

Barry is the usual taskmaster but, give him his due, he does keep the place running smoothly and keeps Strauss out of our hair, which is appreciated by everyone. Anderson doesn't change…although he's moved his desk to the other side of the room but Prentiss and I haven't taken offence."

Spencer nodded but he decided that he was not going to say anything about the friendship that he and Jo had with the Andersons nor the closeness that had developed between Penelope and Jo.

"More coffee, Spencer?" Angela asked.

"No thanks, I've had two mugs already…and I guess we'll have to get going soon," he replied eyeing the wall clock.

"Sorry Angela, we really do have to go…I know my Mom has a late Sunday lunch but we're going to have to get moving now…" Jo added picking up her forest green wool jacket.

Within minutes they were back on the highway heading towards the Petersen family home.

Jo was conscious of Spencer's withdrawn mood and hoped he was happy about the visit because she liked Angela and Derek had not been how she had imagined, infact, she had quite liked him too. He had certainly made them both welcome and the couple seemed to genuinely like the present.

"They liked the painting," she finally said into the silence.

"Yes, she's too good for him. I hope Morgan appreciates what he has in Angela," Spencer softly replied and Jo wondered what was causing him to have concerns. However, Jo sensed that her husband was in one of his quiet brooding moods and whatever doubts he might have he was keeping them to himself.

In two hours they would be touching down at Heathrow. Jo was dozing beside him but Spencer's mind could not switch off from all his thoughts. He was both excited and apprehensive; he was going to meet a couple of his father's old colleagues and also Gideon again. It was important to Spencer to discover how his father had fared when he had left the family home, especially as he had discovered through his journal and later contact with these old colleagues, that his father had not completely abandoned him. Dr. William Reid had regularly sent letters and parcels that had been destroyed by his mother before he could see them. Today, Spencer was wearing his father's purple silk scarf and would do so again when he met the old colleagues; it was an honour to wear the scarf and this trip was for Spencer a sort of pilgrimage to his father's memory. William Reid had been brought to breaking point by the situation with his mentally sick wife but he should not have left his son with her. However, hindsight is wonderful but the level of stress that had coloured the father's thinking was now much more understood by the psychologist son who was himself contemplating having a child.

It was something that had always been in the background since deciding to marry but last night the pair of them had sat and talked rationally about the big step. Jo was honest enough to say that recently she had begun to feel that she was surrounded by pregnant women. She further remarked that even the wives of agents she'd met were mostly mothers. They had all told her the same thing: although violent death on duty was rare, considering the number of agents, but when it was your husband who was on call all hours their own career was just not enough to fill in those empty hours alone. All the wives had confessed that eventually they wanted their husband's child just in case they didn't come back one day. They also said that they wanted to have a child before the years passed so quickly that they got too set in their ways to even want to make the big changes involved to end a childless life style that they might have got use to.

Spencer knew that Jo had a strong maternal streak and he had admitted to himself that this had been part of his attraction to her because she was very different to his own mother. Granted Diana Reid was ill but she had always felt torn between motherhood and the personal satisfaction she had got from her own career. Jo knew that it would be easier for her to keep up a career within Fairfax Estates because it was a family business. Marilyn and Jeff had already suggested that they were prepared to pay for a nanny to help keep Jo within their business when she eventually wanted to start a family. It was a very generous offer and Jo said that it would be a great help considering her injured hand that had made changing diapers and dressing Lydia and Ben a bit difficult at times.

For Spencer's part, he agreed that the prospect of fatherhood was daunting but he did enjoy being with Craig's children and those of other friends. But he was concerned about the very hours he worked and that this might put additional stress on the marriage if they had a child aswell. However, Jo had repeated the Bevan's offer to pay for a 'live in' nanny as part of her salary package. Spencer had to agree that such an arrangement could work and perhaps Jo wouldn't feel so isolated with a baby and the Bevans were like having an extra set of parents to lean on as far as Jo was concerned.

Jo had finally burst into laughter at the seriousness and the way that Spencer was over analysing the whole situation. He had looked at her giggling, as she sprawled out on the bed, and finally could see her point. However, Spencer had not experienced a normal childhood and was anxious to be a good father because he had been very distressed when his own had left and his work only seemed to emphasise the negatives of life. He had pointed this all out to Jo and stressed that being a criminal profiler brought him into contact with some of the worst of humanity and work at the CACU had certainly brought home to him just how precious childhood was.

Jo had then suddenly stopped laughing and apologised for seeming frivolous but what it really came down to was did they both want to stop contraception. The trip to England was an opportunity that they might not have again for another year because it was totally away from the pressures of both of their careers. If she wanted to conceive then this was the ideal time to try but it had to be a decision that they were both happy with.

Spencer could see the scene replay in his mind; it was typical of Jo to reach straight to the essence of the dilemma. Dr. Spencer Reid relived the feeling of standing on the precipice of the potentially life changing decision….

He sat on the end of the bed staring at the JEM painting in the soft table lamp glow and marvelled at the fact that he had married a very talented woman who was prepared to put part of her creativity on hold in order to have their child. But she also seemed to be aided and abetted by her aunt and uncle. Spencer was reminded by his own conscience that Jo had also faced her own death and considered her present life an unexpected joyful existence. Spencer felt ashamed of his own doubting.

"Spencer," Jo reached out to him and came to sit beside him, "What's wrong?"

"Are you really prepared to give up some of your creative time. I know Marilyn and Jeff have been very generous with their offer and it would enable you to keep the interior design part going but perhaps not your artistic output…When would you have time to paint something like this aswell as enjoy being a mother?"

"Every woman has to make adjustments when they consider children but perhaps I need that emotional growth as a mother to also grow as an artist…like going to another level of emotional creativity. Is it because your Mom at times resented your demands on her time?" asked Jo wanting to get to the bottom of his uncertainty.

"Yeah…I guess that is the basis of my doubting…I love you Jo and I'm sure that you'll be a wonderful mother because you come from such a stable family and…"

"You doubt yourself because you don't have that background…" she finished for him. She sighed and then ploughed on with her own firm beliefs.

"Look, I wouldn't have married you if I didn't think that you would make a good father…You will put all of that psychology you have into practice and you can play and entertain you own child as a form of relaxation from the job when you're at home. Spencer you're good with children because of your experiences and, like you say, you married me because I was the opposite of your mother so deep down you must have wanted to have a child one day."

Spencer smiled and turned to her. Jo's eyes were black in that soft light and he wondered why he was putting up such a fight when she spoke with such conviction and common sense. The decision was made at that moment, of course it might take months or years to get Jo pregnant but it would probably be an enjoyable journey along the way.

He glanced at his wife and smiled, his eyes coming to rest on the deformed left hand. The Bevans were being very generous in their offer, they obviously didn't want to lose her talents but they also knew that Jo would struggle with all those little things that other mothers took in their stride. He had watched how she sometimes fumbled with fastenings on clothes and how she had overcome certain problems by adapting her approach. He thought suddenly of how she put on a bra; other women he'd known automatically fastened it at the back but Jo used front fastening bras. It was a little thing but it was all part of Jo's normality and made life a lot easier for her when she didn't have much movement in her left hand.

Spencer stretched out his legs and rotated his feet to help the blood flow. It was a long flight but soon they would be landing and for him the excitement was bubbling up together with a wonderful sense of freedom to be totally away from work and out of the country. Gideon was scheduled into a full itinerary for the final four days but the first three days were to be spent with Jo's friends in rural Essex. Then Spencer had a trip to meet some of his father's old colleagues over the first weekend to be spent in York and after they were going to travel down to Bath and finally to London. Jo had even fitted in a trip to Paris on Eurostar before he travelled to Cambridge to see Gideon. Jo had arranged a couple of days at an 'interior design' exhibition in the city before she would be joining him but the hotel was already booked and it seemed that every day was spoken for. Spencer wondered if there was going to be enough time to fit in all these visits but the total change of pace and events planned were the pleasure of the whole trip. Above all, it was away from the normal routine of the past six months.

End of Chapter 25.


	26. Chapter 26

**The Interregnum**:** Chapter 26**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**This chapter is especially for Sue1313 who once asked me what I thought happened to Gideon after his abrupt departure. I promised her, when I began this story, that she would eventually find out what I thought could have happened…I hope that she is not disappointed.**

Reid sat on the train heading towards Cambridge. This was the last five days of his vacation. The original plane ticket had been for a two-week stay but they had been able to alter the departure date when the agent had amassed considerable overtime during his brief secondment to the CACU. He had been in that unit less than 6 months and then he was suddenly sent to use his cryptography skills in Washington. The agent still didn't know where he was destined when he returned to the States. Reid hoped that he would be back with Katie Cole's unit because there was still the matter of Danielle's maternity leave but the Director had hinted that he might be placed with Josh Kramer for a time over a case that would overlap with the interests of the CACU. Reid was intrigued by these guarded comments but he then pushed them to one side as he thought about the pleasant time that he and Jo had experienced so far.

It was not his first time in Britain because he had briefly spent 2 days at a Physics conference in Oxford where he was giving a paper over a decade ago. However, that had been a flying visit and he remembered having very little time to even see around the historical city before he was heading back towards Heathrow and flying out to a longer venue, being held in Helsinki, and more fellow physicists with whom to exchange research ideas.

It had been a revelation to be taken to rural Essex and he couldn't believe the small villages with ancient churches, and old cottages, some still with thatched roofs. He smiled to himself as the image of Finchingfield came into mind; it was what the British termed a 'chocolate box' picture of a village complete with village green and duck pond. A little further on they had been to look at the remaining Keep of a once Norman castle in the aptly named Castle Hedingham. Jo had friends scattered around this county and also into the next county of Suffolk, with picturesque market towns like Sudbury, where the locals were very eager to explain to any tourist that the landscape painter John Constable came from their county. Spencer had loved his stay just outside a small town called Epping, that was only 16 miles from London, but they had been able to forget about the capital city being so close because he and Jo had gone riding in Epping Forest.

London was full of places to visit and far too many to see in a few days when he felt that it was important for Jo to meet up with old friends. However, he had walked through part of the expanse of Kew Gardens and ignored the planes flying overhead with a constant regularity of what seems liked only a few seconds between the flights. He didn't have to be told that it was on the Heathrow flight path but all was forgotten when he entered the great botanical glasshouses and viewed the variety of exotic flowers, shrubs and trees all enclosed in their protected warm world.

The National Gallery was dipped into and the smaller National Portrait Gallery next door. There had been a visit to the Tate Gallery on the River Thames and Tate Britain further down the river. There was the visit to the British Library because Spencer had wanted to see manuscripts of early lute music. He wasn't very impressed with Oxford Street for shopping but enjoyed the shop at the British Museum where he could have spent a small fortune on gifts. However, then Jo had taken him to her favourite Victoria and Albert Museum; affectionately called the V and A, this had wonderful eclectic collections and the shop was a great temptation for the couple. He felt as if he was in overload at all the things he'd done and seen that in a way it was relaxing to be heading towards a university town and to see Gideon again. Jo was spending time at an 'interior design' exhibition in London and would be joining him in two days but they had booked the hotel in Cambridge well in advance. Gideon assured him that the hotel was close to the centre of things and although the station was on the outskirts of the town it was an easy walk to the colleges of the old part. Gideon had emailed him to say that he'd meet him off the train and he'd make sure that he was safely settled even without Jo.

Spencer glanced out of the train window as they passed houses along the route. It was strange that this vacation had brought him even to the city where his father had spent his final couple of years. Meeting Douglas and James on their first weekend and a brief stay in the historic city of York had finally filled in emotional gaps for Spencer. His father's former friends had been welcoming and were full of stories about the quiet American gentleman who had been a gifted mathematician. They had even photographs that Spencer had never seen before. These showed a man who looked older than his son remembered and there was an air of sadness about him. Diana Reid had destroyed the photographs of William after he left so Spencer had nothing to compare these new images with now except his own childhood memories. Douglas had given him copies of the photographs on a memory stick and also a recording of his father giving a research seminar. Spencer had forgotten the softness of his father's voice but here he was suddenly before him, full of enthusiasm for his subject and every inch alive with the challenge of the intellectual debate.

The train was slowing and Spencer noticed that other passengers were beginning to gather their belongings and button up coats. He did the same and gathered his hand luggage and large suitcase, which fortunately had wheels so it was easy to pull along. He had his large tan leather messenger bag across his body and a carrier bag of other things that he wanted to give Gideon as well as a musical case in the same hand.

He followed the other passengers towards the exit where he would need to show his return ticket. The uniformed man on the barrier let him stand to one side so he could find his ticket and this allowed other alighting passengers to dash through and continue on with their busy ways.

"Sorry," said Spencer as he proffered the ticket after letting all the other passengers go out first.

"That's all right, Sir, we're use to visitors here…and which part of America have you travelled from?"

"Virginia," he replied with a smile well aware that his accent had betrayed him.

The ticket was handed back and Spencer spent time to place it carefully in his wallet.

"Well I hope that you have a pleasant stay and you'll be able to encourage more of your countrymen to visit us," the rail operative replied in a friendly and unhurried way. Spencer liked getting out of London because those that worked on the transport system seemed to have a little more time to be friendly once outside the capital.

"Spencer!" a familiar voice hailed and he looked up to see a smiling Gideon approaching him.

"Ah a friend of yours Dr. Gideon?" the man said.

"Indeed, a friend and old colleague," he replied and Spencer felt the warmth of the joy that the former agent was radiating his way, "Is everything all right Mike?"

"Oh yes, we had the usual rush of people off the 10:40 and your friend here sensibly stood to one side to let them pass while he found his ticket and coped with all his luggage."

"Well you've brought good weather with you, Spencer, and it's a lovely walk into the town. The Regent Hotel isn't far… Let me take the suitcase for you," Gideon said and before Spencer could object he had grabbed the handle and was ready to be off.

They were soon walking side by side turning right beyond the station forecourt and Gideon strode along with a jaunty step. Spencer was delighted to find him looking so well and obviously happy and reminded him that this was like the old Gideon, the one before the Boston bombings and his mentor's breakdown.

"The Regent is a good small hotel, did you have any problems booking?" Gideon enquired.

"Jo did all the arrangements but she does tend to go for smaller places, she thinks that they're just more personal than the bigger chains. I believe she was lucky because they were totally booked for the Easter week but coming later they did have a couple of 'standard' double rooms available and Jo thought a standard double was just fine. She was very impressed with the way they dealt with the booking and they emailed maps and details of attractions in the area for the time we would be coming…."

"Yes, I've heard that they're friendly and very helpful towards tourists. The university sometimes has to use the smaller hotels if a conference overflows the campus accommodation. Generally speaking the old colleges here attract a lot of tourists so they have a good relationship with the local hotels and attractions. It's very much swamped with students for 30 weeks a year and students and academics on cycles are a feature of this place because it can be difficult to get around the narrow streets in a car and finding a parking space is like gold dust! I don't have a car here and walk everywhere. There are some commuter villages surrounding Cambridge but we have a very good system of 'park and ride' local transport buses that are very cheap and they do cut down the cars in Cambridge itself."

"You obviously like the place,"

"Oh yes…it's so very different to my former life in the States and I've joined the RSPB…." he enthused.

"Excuse me?" said Spencer wondering what the initials stood for.

Gideon glanced at him with a broad smile, "Sorry…you see how quickly I've become an anglophile…Royal Society for the Protection of Birds," he clarified and then continued, "We're in fen country and there are some wonderful wild places to go bird watching. I've made quite a few friends who take me along to their favourite haunts."

"What else do you do for relaxation?" Spencer delved because suddenly this was the man he had first known who had laughed and joked with the original team before the Boston incident. Gideon had become increasingly reclusive during his latter years at the BAU.

"Well I never tire of the Fitzwilliam Museum…great place for a rainy afternoon. Then there are a lot of Steam train enthusiasts in Britain and plenty of restored bits of lines and engines to visit and ride on."

"We went to the Railway Museum in York before we travelled back to London and then on the Bath…" Spencer joined in.

"Wonderful isn't it! Were you in York visiting Jo's friends?"

"No, I had an invitation to stay with a friend and former colleague of my fathers and another old friend and colleague joined us aswell. It was a wonderful few days, they were very generous with their time and …well it filled in some gaps," he finished lamely thinking that perhaps walking along a busy street was not the place to talk about those very special days.

Gideon nodded and they came to a halt before a pedestrian crossing waiting for the traffic lights to turn red and for the 'green man' signal to allow them to safely cross the junction.

"The hotel's not far perhaps, after you're settled in, I could take you home for lunch? It would be a quieter place to talk about your trip so far," Gideon asked gently and Spencer sensed a hesitance, or was it a respect, of not wishing to intrude upon private matters.

"That's very kind Gideon, I've only a few days here and I would enjoy some time in your company…I've missed those evenings we used to play chess while Jo was busy with the choir."

The shrill bleeping of the crossing signalled the urgency to move while the green man was visible and they obeyed and walked briskly with everyone else.

As Gideon had promised the Regent Hotel was suddenly before them. It had the appearance of a once substantial Georgian townhouse but inside it had been tastefully modernised. The staff were friendly and quickly Spencer was in his room unpacking and chatting to his old mentor about his stay in Bath, and the wonderful Regency heritage there, together with how Jo had enthused about her love of Jane Austen's Emma and Persuasion.

"Not Pride and Prejudice?" countered Gideon with laughter in his dark eyes.

"No…she prefers Emma because she's 'an interfering minx'" and Spencer made quotation marks in the air with his fingers, "and then there's Persuasion because Anne is considered beyond the bloom of youth and basically 'left on the shelf.'"

"Ah!" Gideon replied sagely but again there was laughter in the eyes, "Tells you a lot about Jo doesn't it? A woman who once had lived in the superficial world of youthful beauty and shallow friends but was steadfast to her own values."

Spencer nodded feeling a wave of sadness that Jo had learnt the hard way about the New York society that she had once moved in. It had revealed the worst influence of money, youth and beauty and being part of a gilded society that had seemed so talented and special but had not the strength, nor inclination, to support her when she was attacked and left imperfect. It angered him that her then boyfriend had not even been able to touch her because she was no longer physically 'perfect'.

Gideon stood watching the man who suddenly seemed deep in thought. He guessed that he was thinking about the absent Jo and hoped that all was well between them. The psychologist in him assessed Spencer. No, he firmly told himself, this man was in a loving and steady relationship and everything pointed to that since they had met at the station by the happy and confident way he had spoken to Mike and the hotel staff who had enquired after his wife…

"Jo's attending a trade exhibition concerning her work…She's an interior designer but she'll be joining me in two days time. However, meanwhile I have the good fortune to be able to spend time with my old mentor here. I was delighted to accept his invitation to come and give a few talks to his students although it's really an excuse for a decent game of chess!" he had confided with a flourish and the middle-aged receptionist smiled warmly and handed him his key after he had signed in.

Spencer Reid looked like a visiting academic; his gentle manners were already charming those he had only just met. Gideon noticed how Spencer's broad band of gold was worn like a shield to ward off any predator female. He still used a messenger bag but the music case was a new addition as far as Gideon was concerned and he stared at it lying on the mocha and teal coloured bedspread. The leather covering looked worn in places but the black case was unexpected and out of place on this trip and besides Gideon had just not expected that instrument.

"It was my father's," the soft voice cut through the silence and Gideon's thoughts.

The older man looked up and into large expressive and deeply sensitive eyes burning with a desire to tell more.

"I know you play the lute but the violin as well?" asked Gideon quietly hoping that Spencer would expand upon this subject because he felt there was something very special about this instrument.

The younger man nodded, "Well I'm a bit rusty, my original one got broken, although I did buy a violin when I went to Harvard and practised but I think of the lute as my primary instrument now. My father taught me to play; he had two violins, the smaller one that he had himself learnt upon and gave to me and this one." Spencer walked over to the bed and sat down beside the violin case. He reached across and opened the lid to gaze reverently upon the finely formed instrument resting upon crimson velvet. A slender index finger reached out to delicately trace the outline of the body of the violin while he continued with his account.

"He always stressed that music was a special gift that could be a great solace in life. He didn't want me to play to perform because he had stressed it wasn't like all my other intellectual abilities but a personal pleasure, to help me to unwind from the tensions of the day, and to explore my imagination through the many pathways of music. My father found great solace himself from this instrument. There were times at home when my mother's difficult personality, along with her illness, meant that the tensions and emotional strains were such that he would retreat into his study and he would play for hours. It helped him to cope, Gideon; he was a talented mathematician with a genius son and a talented academic wife who was unstable because of mental illness.

My mother demanded everything to be on her terms when dealing with people from my father, colleagues, her students and myself in equal measure. Everything had to revolve around her world and for a peaceful life, and to give me some stability, my father sacrificed a lot of his own self but in the end he got to a breaking point. You see my mother wouldn't take her medication regularly and was argumentative with the doctors who tried to help her. She quarrelled with the university department who tried to work round her moods and manic times because there were times when she was a brilliant teacher and an asset to the department. Her book is still considered the best overview of European medieval literature and is the course book at many universities offering medieval studies as a course unit. Well in the end my Dad left; he took a limited contract of three years to come here…"

Spencer stopped and stared at the amazement showing on Gideon's face. "Yes, my Dad lived his final years in this city but his colleagues are now retired or dead but I had the good fortune to meet two of them while on the trip to York. My silk purple scarf was sent to me by Douglas when he found out I was at Quantico and that's how I eventually struck up a correspondence and eventually he invited me to stay with him. The departmental secretary, Bridget, had hidden his violin from the people who came to clear his office and the room he lodged in. Friends and colleagues here had come to the conclusion that all the letters and presents that he regularly sent home had never reached me and so they each independently decided to hold back something to remember William Reid by. Most of his things were sent back to the family home in Las Vegas where, of course, my mother destroyed them while I was at the university and staying with the Bishop family on campus during the week. I thought, and so did his colleagues, that the violin had perished in the plane crash that killed my father. Bridget herself died in January from breast cancer but she confessed to Douglas about the violin when her cancer became terminal and she was given weeks to live. Douglas was given the instrument to give to me along with a letter that Bridget wrote. It's a wonderful letter…it's about the times they had lunch together along with her late husband who was an architect. My father had been very kind to them when Gordon became ill and very supportive of Bridget when Gordon died very suddenly during a heart operation.

The colleagues and friends had all apparently tried to tell my Dad that his wife would never let anything reach me but my Dad always wanted to believe the best of people, even of his sick wife. He firmly believed that she would be good and co-operate with the doctors because of her responsibility towards me. Even if she was forced to take her medicines… she would obey just for me…It's so sad really." Spencer stopped again as memories flooded to the surface of a man he was so very like in many ways but his father leaving, all those years ago, had left emotional scars.

"James sent me his journal…I still read it and feel close to him," Spencer began again, "He never stopped thinking about us. He still loved my mother but it was a love destroyed by her schizophrenia…and lets face it, that was probably caused by her drug taking when at Berkeley…She was something of a 'wild child' in those days! But I do understand far more now, where as a child, I couldn't really understand all the pressures upon him. I did miss him when he left and I tried to deny that love I felt for him. I still love him despite that feeling of abandonment that won't go away. I wish he had taken me with him…My mother pleaded with him to take me as he was packing…" Spencer sighed it was still an emotional journey for him but he really felt something more like a closure now although the past could not be re-written.

"I'm really pleased that I met these people who knew my Dad…it's as if the final pieces of the jigsaw have been found and I have as much of him as I'm ever going to have. He was applying for a post back in Nevada when he took that flight for the maths conference. My Dad had sent for the forms and had turned down a more permanent position here because he felt he needed to get back home because he missed us so much…Its all in his journal too so I know it's the truth… It's quite a tragedy really, they obviously loved one another but schizophrenia took over and destroyed more than just my mother. I wonder if my Mom would have even let him in the house if he had returned. Our house was in his name but he had bequeathed it to her in his will. But would he have had the strength to have her committed? I think it would have killed him to make that decision…it was bad enough for me when I had to do it at 18. It's a terrible thing to do when you know that you are taking away a sick person's freedom and they are pleading with you to let them stay in their home…in the world they know and feel safe…"

"But you did have the strength, Spencer, that is why you're a much stronger person than your father. But that is all past and you have a future to pursue. You have made a very good marriage and your father would have liked Jo and recognised her for the good, stable and supportive person she is," Gideon re-assured and was also well aware that Spencer had suddenly switched to the more intimate term of Dad while re-counting the story.

Spencer looked up and a sad smile crossed his lips, "Yes, I deliberately looked for a stable partner."

"Of course you did, it's what any good profiler does," assured the older man.

"Even you?" Spencer fired back and Gideon was caught unawares by the question. He thought for a few moments.

"Yes, Spencer, even I. My first wife was a good and stable woman, it was I who ruined the marriage by letting my work totally take over my life. I didn't get the home/work balance right and my son also suffered because I should have stepped back more and spent those precious early years of his childhood closer to home. I could have spent more time at home by becoming a consultant, or gone into pure teaching. But I had achieved agent status and I liked having that badge and the kudos that went with it," Gideon confessed and shook his head as if to dispel the painful memories that were trying to re-surface.

"Like I said, for me it got all out of balance. I'm too single minded at times and didn't shut the door on the work at the end of the day. I took it home with me to brood upon in the study…Don't do that to your marriage, Spencer, no job is worth that sort of dedication because in the end the job takes over and those important relationships around you suffer… They feel pushed away by the work…and then you retire and you have nothing."

Spencer stared at his old mentor and knew that he was sharing his failure to try and prevent another dedicated profiler falling into the same bottomless pit of never ending cases.

"Yeah…I've felt the pull of the demands of the case loads this year and we're not even six months in. The CACU are a good bunch of people but I've not really enjoyed the work. I found that I wasn't spending enough time away from the job and I began to resent not seeing friends or following some of my other interests that help to keep me sane."

"At least you're aware of it. Some profilers don't recognise it until their partners finally snap and demand them to make a choice over the job or them! In my time at the BAU, I saw some very good people leave and go into academia to save their partnerships. The FBI demands a lot from its people but most partners understand as long as they do get attention when the agent goes home…I think Hotch and Hayley have worked out a balance together," he finished with a smile.

Spencer responded with a grin, he had always considered Hotch as the agent he most tried to be like when on duty and how he managed his personal life. Hotchner compartmentalised his work and home life and was often seen doing the admin work on the journey home from a case, especially if they were on the jet.

"Lunch?" suggested Gideon with a cheerful manner.

"Great…and perhaps you'll tell me more about what you've been doing here…you seem very settled," he ended tentatively, hoping that Gideon wouldn't suddenly clam up on him after the glimpse through the personal armour.

"I've left a casserole cooking in the oven, I don't live far from here…The main house belongs to a friend but they had an annex built on for an elderly relative, its self contained but the four rooms make a more than adequate home for me." The older man replied and led the way from the hotel.

Spencer was delighted that his mentor's happy demeanour had not disappeared. It was good to see Gideon so happy and there was an air of stability that he'd lost after the Boston bombings. This Gideon reminded him of that leader of the old BAU team, before Hotch, Morgan, JJ, Elle or Emily made an appearance. As they crossed busy city roads they walked in silence but Spencer continued to think about the old team that was lost in Boston and how he had been safely ill in bed when the world of so many others were shattered.

The two men turned into the driveway of a substantial detached house but Gideon turned away from approaching the wide imposing oak front door. Instead, he led the way down a side path to the left of the house and halted at a green painted door on the side. This door was clearly labelled as 56 B by shiny brass numbers and letter fixed on rectangular green painted plaque, that was itself mounted on the white rendered wall. Gideon's key turned in the lock and the door swung open to reveal a small square vestibule that was quite dark because of the darkly stained wooden doors that led from it. However, Spencer's stomach responded to the delicious aroma of a meat and vegetable casserole.

"Smells good!" Spencer said with enthusiasm and Gideon chuckled as he made his way into the long narrow kitchen with Spencer a couple of steps behind. It was quite a basic kitchen with no more than 9 feet by 5 feet of standing space within a standard U shape layout. There was a simple collection of plain white cupboards, above and below a fake pale marbled finish counter top. The white goods consisted of a small electric stove, fridge freezer and the washing machine was placed beneath the 'drainer' top for the stainless steel sink unit that was beneath the window that looked out to the side hedge of prickly pyracantha. It was functional but not fashionable, even the splash back tiling was a plain white with no decorative border to give some interest in the colour scheme, however, it was more than adequate for a single occupant. Spencer stopped himself from getting too critical and it flashed through his mind just how much Jo had influenced the way he now saw interiors even when she was not beside him. Spencer firmly reminded himself that this was just Gideon's rented space and he suspected that very little furniture in this dwelling would reflect the older man's real tastes that had been seen at the cabin and his former apartment.

"You look as slender as ever, doesn't Jo and her family feed you?" the older man asked with a grumbling good humour colouring his voice.

"Well you know how it is…I've never had a problem about excessive weight gain…its always been a case of trying to keep my weight up at an acceptable level. Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really…just flip the switch on that coffee maker and you can go and explore…You'll not get lost here, you could lose this tiny place in your Alexandria apartment."

Spencer did as he was told and felt honoured that Gideon would let him roam in his home. He returned to the tiny entrance vestibule where they had hung their coats on brass coat hooks on a rare expanse of wall before doorways became the prominent features of that area. From here he could see four doors, all were open to show their function. The kitchen was immediately on the left as you entered from the outside door and this room now demanded Gideon's attention. To the right of the main door was the bathroom, a plain white suite with a power shower over the bath and fully tiled walls. The wall tiles were dated and Spencer suspected that it had been fitted easily a decade previously with a peacock blue tile from the floor to half the wall height. There was then a fancy border tile, in white with a gold raised relief of a scroll design. Above these, and continuing to the ceiling, were plain white tiles. It was a small and functional space with a towel rail over the radiator and a mirrored cabinet in pine fixed onto the wall opposite the bath. The floor was covered in a small dove grey rectangular tile that toned down the strong blue of the wall tiles. Standing with his back to the outside door, there were two doors facing him. The one to the right led to the bedroom the other the living room…

Spencer glanced into the bedroom and saw a square room with two large windows that looked out onto the garden. It appeared to have painted plastered walls in a cream colour and contained dark wooden furniture that again looked old and very sturdy. The bed had a headboard that matched the wardrobe and chest of drawers and the only interest for the room came from the burst of colour from the floral drapes at the windows and matching cover on the bed. He thought that Jo would probably like the material with the bold reds, blues and golden yellows depicting large heads of chrysanthemum like flowers. The carpeting was the same as the tiny entrance hall, a honeyed light brown colour that looked to have been chosen for its hardy qualities because of its short pile and reminded him of some hotel rooms that he'd stayed in. Spencer was struck by the lack of pictures on the walls or ornaments of any kind in the bedroom. However, there was a small pile of books stacked on the bedside table but the pale blue ceramic table lamp seemed to have been pushed a little too close to the edge of the cabinet top for Spencer's liking. He strode across the room quickly to push the lamp a couple of inches further in, it was perhaps pernickety of him but he thought that it was an accident just waiting to happen.

The younger man then turned his attention to the living room that was by far the largest room in the annex and a good 14 foot wide and 18 foot long. There was a large brick and wood fireplace that dominated one wall and took your mind away from the same honey coloured carpeting. A big dark brown leather sofa was placed opposite the fireplace but backing onto this was a dark oak writing desk and Gideon's laptop lay unopened on this with a heavy brass table lamp beside it. To either side of the fireplace were two unmatched worn brown leather high backed chairs with large crimson velvet scatter cushions that looked inviting with their creases of comfort betraying the former sitters.

Spencer's attention was then captured by the photographs placed in front of books on the two darkly stained wooden book cases that seemed to sweep from floor to ceiling for almost 6 foot along the wall opposite the windows and French doors that led out into the garden. He recognised Stephen and his friend from the times he had been in Gideon's woodland retreat. There was a small picture of Sarah and her two sons grinning out at the viewer and Spencer recalled the appalling scene of her bloodied death on the bed in Gideon's apartment. It seemed a long time ago now but it was in fact less than a year but it had all been the final straw that broke Gideon.

On another shelf there were photographs of people he recognised from his first days at Quantico. Here were two groups of the old team gathered around their Unit Chief, Dr. Gideon. The second one included a very young Dr. Reid and Spencer thought it belonged to his first year with the BAU because of his hairstyle and brown sweater he was wearing. His eyes roamed across to the next bookcase and there were photos of other groups of mostly middle aged looking academics, the men outnumbered the women but they all looked directly into the camera with a confidence that implied established careers. Two of these photographs had been taken in what looked like a lecture hall, with them gathered on the small stage gazing out towards the rising rows of seats. The third was taken in what looked like a college 'quad' the old building with its old leaded windows looking out onto a square of well-maintained lawn.

But then Spencer's eyes looked to the shelf above and saw the photographs that he had e-mailed Gideon of the day he and Jo had married. There was the one that the family back home particularly liked of Lydia between them with her little basket of flowers, while Spencer held Ben in his arms, and the happiness of that day flooded back to him. Next to this photo was another of an unknown woman with grey straight hair that was cut quite short to frame her oval shaped face. She was dressed in a gentian blue long sleeved dress and stood holding the hands of a boy and girl either side of her. The children had dark hair but there was some familial similarity between the subjects and Spencer wondered if they were the woman's grand children. The children looked natural in the pose and the whole appearance of the photograph was one that implied the subjects were totally relaxed with the photographer. The girl looked slightly taller than the boy and Spencer thought that this was the older of the two but probably by only a year.

"That's Ruthie and her twins, Zoe and Adam," Gideon's voice said from behind him.

"Her twins…I thought she was the grand mother!" admitted Spencer in his surprise and turned to see Gideon's amused face and knew instinctively that these three were very important to the man.

Gideon handed him a mug of rich dark coffee, and gave a small shake of his head. "It's quite a sad story really. Ruth and Jonathan had been married for over twenty years and had been trying to have children for most of that time. When Ruth was 45 she had her final bout of fertility treatment and once more she failed to conceive and was advised to accept her childlessness. The doctors assured the couple that she had experienced the best fertility treatment available but now her body needed to rest from all the hormonal drugs that she had taken over the years. The couple began to accept their lot when suddenly, at 48, she conceived the twins naturally. As you can imagine they just couldn't believe their good fortune and Ruth gave up her work to give the pregnancy every possible chance of success…Then 7 months into the pregnancy, Jonathan collapsed in his hospital consulting room with a massive brain aneurysm. There was nothing anyone could have done…Amazingly, Ruth carried the twins to 8 months and they are now healthy 5 year olds and a credit to their mother's care…But Ruthie is a child psychologist so she has put into practise good mothering skills."

Spencer sighed and swallowed coffee at the tragic tale and thought how fragile one's life was no matter how much you tried to plan so much could happen without warning. "We never know what life can hold for us…" he replied sympathetically and hoped that his Jo was safe and enjoying herself back in London.

"No…that's why we should try and appreciate those who are special in our lives while they are with us," replied Gideon.

"Yes, and they are very important to you," the younger said gesturing slightly with the coffee mug as he spoke. However, Spencer instantly regretted voicing his thoughts knowing how reticent about personal relationships the older man tended to be.

But to Spencer's surprise Gideon's face softened and he smiled at his former protégé, "Yes, they are very special to me, perhaps you will have the opportunity to meet Ruthie while you're here," the older man tentatively said.

"I would like that," Spencer replied and felt his heart pounding in his chest at this unusual opening into Gideon's very private world.

"Good…I think you and Jo would get on well with her…afterall, we all bear the scars of overcoming tragedy in our lives. I feel that by knowing Ruthie that I have re-discovered hope in my life again and the twins give us both such bountiful joy that it both scares me and re-fuels me once more with an interest in life."

"Gideon, you shouldn't feel guilty about such feelings…You do deserve some happiness and contentment in your life after all the horrors that you've witnessed along the way," Spencer firmly said and the man looked searchingly into his eyes. Spencer didn't flinch at the scrutiny because he knew that he had grown to be comfortable with himself in the past year and felt that he was entering a different level of friendship if he went carefully. The two men locked gazes and Gideon was pleased to see the steadiness of an experienced criminal profiler but above all he sensed the depth of compassion and belief in humanity that seemed to have an ageless quality in the genius.

"It's good to see you again Spencer," Gideon suddenly broke the moment, " Let's eat and after lunch perhaps you'd like to see where I work…A number of my colleagues hinted they would be around …you know obviously angling for an introduction…Or perhaps you have other plans?"

"Sounds fine to me…but do you think we could fit in some chess this evening? It's been a long time and I've missed your challenging play."

"Yes, they were good times and I would have liked your opinion on things that have happened since the New Year. I met Ruthie then…well that's not quite true we were introduced in the November when I gave a lecture on profiling child abusers.... But I only really got to know her since the New Year…Things just happened so quickly that it's still a bit unreal at times, but we both agree it's like we've known each other for years. It was, and is, frightening…I don't mean any disrespect towards Sarah's memory… Sarah and I had known each other from our college days and we had married different people but were able to meet up again to share another part of our lives that would otherwise have been a lonely time for both of us. When you get older you tend to appreciate those shared moments of companionship…especially when you have experienced a marriage and don't expect another chance to enjoy emotional closeness. I never expected to find love again at my age…but that is what I feel for Ruthie and it is something far stronger than I ever felt for Sarah." Gideon admitted in a soft quiet voice. Spencer caught the meaning of the moment as the older man tentatively tried to explain his present relationship.

Spencer's sensitive nature felt the melting of invisible barriers as Gideon spoke these words and he experienced only compassion for the older man and was relieved that Gideon had found someone to stabilise him after the abrupt way that he had left the BAU.

"You've faced the worse of humanity, Gideon, and paid a high price with the tragic events that over took your life back in the States…What matters now is that you have made a new and calmer life here. Ruth sounds to be someone who has faced her own tragedies but has picked up the pieces to be strong for her children. It will be an honour to meet the woman whom you love because you're not a man to use that term flippantly." Spencer softly replied but the words seemed to bounce of the walls and echo around the room as if proclaiming the hidden love of Gideon and Ruth.

Four hours later, Spencer sat chatting in Gideon's tiny college office. It had been a non- stop three hours of meeting academics and the shaking of numerous hands that had pleased Gideon enormously. The old mentor enjoyed seeing Reid confidently greeting people and allowing this universal touch and meeting of eyes in the execution of the action. Here was the promise of good lectures to come. Even the Professor had taken time out, from wrestling with a long-winded application form for a research grant, to meet Dr. Reid and have his personal copy of Reid's book signed. Gideon chuckled as the Professor left to return to chore.

"Bob's a good head of department but it's the usual story…admin! You've made his day by signing his book …You'd better get use to that because I suspect those attending your sessions will be clutching copies for the personal touch!"

"You're enjoying this!" Spencer muttered but he failed to sound disgruntled and then stopped as he noticed the woman at the open door.

"Well can I have the personal touch as well?" the laughing voice asked and he stared into warm brown eyes and a beautiful friendly expression that all spoke their own promise of gentle humour.

"Ruthie!" Gideon exclaimed genuinely surprised at her appearance and spontaneously grinned because she had physically entered his world.

"Spencer this is…" Gideon began but she raised a black leather gloved hand to halt the introduction.

"I think he already realises that Jason…Can I call you Spencer or would you prefer the more formal Dr. Reid or even just Reid?" her surprisingly deep voice asked.

Spencer beamed his own grin in response to her openness, "Spencer is fine if I can call you Ruth or do you prefer Ruthie?"

"Only Jason calls me Ruthie…so you're safe with Ruth!" she replied with a momentary flash from the eyes. "Now I've just popped by in the hope of finding you both here. Have you made any plans for tonight Spencer?" she asked.

"No. I've not got that far yet…"

"Oh good, how about the pair of you coming to my house for an early dinner?…It's with the twins but they enjoy having Jason with us and another guest at the table will ensure a better standard of behaviour from them…"

"You hope…" muttered Gideon but Spencer sensed that this was the usual by-play between the couple.

"That's a very generous offer and I have to admit that I do prefer home cooking to eating out…I'm even known to perform a few magic tricks for the children of friends…"

Ruth's smile made her look so young in contrast to the grey hair. She was in her early 50s but her manner radiated a confidence and an ability to get on well with a wide range of people.

Meanwhile, across a vast ocean, Erin Strauss sank wearily into her office chair. It was the start of a new day and she had arrived extra early again to cope with the growing workload. She had been arriving at 5 a.m. for the past fortnight to try to keep abreast of the admin that was increasing now that Barry had been seconded away from the BAU to sit on a disciplinary board in Miami. She sipped the strong black coffee in the hope that it would help her to wake up but her mind dwelt on her meeting with the Director three weeks earlier. He had told her that she would be losing one her people because it was necessary to have agents untainted by the Florida Office to sit on the internal board….

"You do understand don't you?" the Director sounded impatient although the volume of his voice never increased, nor was there any increase in the pace of its delivery, but there was the tiny nuances of annoyance when the words were spoken. "Such matters have to be seen, by all concerned, to be totally fair and these agents have all shown themselves to be steady and respected individuals in the past but these allegations have to be investigated."

"I do understand the situation, Sir, but who will be replacing him while he's in Miami?"

"There isn't the personnel to replace him for just a few weeks, Strauss. You know how every department has had to tighten their belts with the cuts…"

"But I thought the Bureau was getting some of the funding restored?"

"It has been promised but it has yet to reach our coffers…"

Strauss groaned to herself and warmed her hands on the blue china mug as she drank. It was true…you never seemed to realise just how much some agents actually did until they were away for a few weeks. She had never fully appreciated Hotchner's work until she had briefly stepped in for him in Milwaukee. It had not been a pleasant experience and it had reminded her that she had been out of the field too long to remember some of the horrors that agents faced. The BAU was one of those departments that faced frequent horrors…and now she was the one who had to decide which of the many cases arriving in that department would receive the personal 'visitation' of help.

Her eyes fell upon the buff coloured files stacked to the right of her. Last night she had stayed until nearly midnight reading the details and then prioritising cases. The present pile were the ones that she considered worthy of a second look and perhaps actually sending a profiler to the scene. This had once been one of Jareau's tasks but she was now busy on the West Coast and being highly thought of in her work there. Barry had taken over the work seamlessly, just as he had earlier also shouldered much of the admin of the Unit Chief when Hotch was seconded to the Director's special team. Barry had always kept the BAU running smoothly when Hotchner was away from the office but since his departure for Florida, Strauss was beginning to realise that the BAU was a very difficult group of profilers to manage.

Strauss sighed, she sensed the feelings of antagonism towards her every time she entered the BAU and was sure that the unit was actively working against her rather than with her. She couldn't find anything to actually put into a report because it was all so covert, they were all correctly civil to her but she saw only cold eyes of censure whenever she passed over their threshold.

Erin Strauss sighed she did attempt to make polite conversation with the personnel under her when the situation arose, but she was usually met with an icy brief reply. Strauss had expected something better from Emily Prentiss because she was an ambassador's daughter but she had obviously decided that she was not going to be seen being friendly with the Departmental Chief. Then there was Agent Morgan who had been preening himself with the expectation of being placed into Barry's shoes while he was away. However, Strauss was well aware that Morgan was not the natural substitute because the other agents didn't really like his behaviour nor did they respect his opinions outside his narrow expertise. She had observed him that brief time she had been with them in Milwaukee; although Morgan liked to think himself the leader in Hotchner's absence, the other members of the team had gone their own way despite the orders Morgan had rattled off. Morgan had recently married and this gave him the impression of stability but the real leaders left in the bullpen were Emily Prentiss and Tyrone Compton. She would not give any extra responsibilities to Prentiss because she had not played her part when asked to keep an eye on the team and report confidentially back to her. While Compton had only been with them 10 months, and was considered very junior by the other experienced profilers, he was also fiercely loyal to the bullpen and not the sort to 'rock the boat' but he might be useful in a few years time.

The woman drank the remains of her coffee and placed the mug to the left side of her desktop. There was only one path to take and she was exhausted already. Erin Strauss picked up the top file and braced herself for the photographs it contained.

**Four Days later….**

Spencer's stay in Cambridge passed in a fury of lectures, lunches and dinners. Once Jo had joined him the social life of the couple didn't appear to have a spare hour, especially as new acquaintances were eager to show Jo around the sights while Spencer was caught up in his own commitments. The time to say their farewells came far too soon but such feelings merely magnified the fact that the couple had thoroughly enjoyed their stay and didn't really want it to end.

Gideon and Ruth stood on the platform to see them off. Spencer was full of the warmth he felt for this couple and was delighted that he had personally seen how Gideon had emotionally healed and was the most positive that he'd ever seen him. It had been a short but special time spent in Gideon's company and one that had forged a new and much deeper form of friendship that was no longer that of master and his protégé but of equals, each of the men respected the talents of the other. Ruth was the sort of companion that Spencer had always thought the older man needed in his life. Seeing the pair standing on the platform now, any onlooker would have thought them to be a couple seeing off their son and his wife but it was only those close enough to hear some of the conversation that people would realise that they were unrelated.

"I'll personally meet you off the plane, Ruth," Jo assured the older woman, "Then we'll be able to return to you some of the hospitality you've extended to us."

"And I promised to bring the violin carefully across the Altantic as my hand luggage!" Ruth replied with a grin.

"It's really kind of you…I didn't expect to be given it and it will be safer in your care considering how much extra luggage we seem to have accumulated," Spencer said wondering how much excess they would be paying at Heathrow. Jo had found some wonderful presents for the family and then there were the unexpected late wedding gifts that were given to them by Jo's friends who wanted to see their reaction to the presents as they opened them. These had been wonderful surprises but they really didn't have enough hands for all the extra bags without trying to carry the precious violin as well.

"It's no problem and I'll be travelling light to that conference anyway. It's nice to know that I'll have someone meeting me because I don't know Washington at all. I've been to conferences in New York, Philadelphia and Phoenix but this year the steering group chose Georgetown as the venue…Of course the twins are eager to get rid of me as Jason will be in charge for the week!"

Jo and Spencer both grinned at the thought of Jason Gideon being the father figure. They had witnessed the relationship the twins had with the man and it was so natural that you would think they were genuinely blood relatives. For Spencer it was good to see Gideon suddenly appear to be younger and more light-hearted in the company of these children after all the previous anguish and distressing experiences alongside his over-zealous commitment to the job.

"Here's the train! Now get on and claim seats, Jo, because this one tends to be popular with tourists heading back into London," Gideon said briskly reaching down to grab Jo's case, "I'll pass this over to Spencer once he's got his own case stowed."

Ruth gave Jo a quick hug, "Safe journey and see you again soon" she whispered.

Ruth then turned to Spencer and gave him a warm hug too, "Safe journey and I promise it will be safe," she whispered knowing how special the instrument was to the man.

"I know you will. Keep taking care of him," he whispered back. Spencer then turned to Gideon who was receiving a hug and 'thank you' from Jo who then turned and stepped onto the train.

Then Gideon found himself in a brief but strong hug from Spencer, "Thank you and take care," he whispered to him.

Gideon was so shocked by the unusual personal touch that he momentarily froze with Jo's case in his hand but then Spencer had released him and was on the train. Moments later, Spencer was back at the train door to take the case Gideon handed up to him.

"You're always welcome here, Spencer…Hope the journey home is smooth, Bon voyage!" he finished with a flourish.

But the men's eyes met and they spoke of a caring for each other's welfare that went beyond words. Gideon fought back the swelling of emotion in his throat and found Ruth's hand in his. She squeezed it with understanding and Spencer stood by the closed door to wave his farewell and to memorise the scene of the smiling couple both waving them off. Ruth was easily three inches taller than Gideon but neither was self conscious of this difference. Her peacock blue coat contrasted with the ageing quality of her grey hair but she had a good figure for her age and was unafraid to wear strong colours when some other women, in their fifties, would have retreated to more matronly grey, brown or black.

The return journey back to London seemed far quicker than the outward one for Spencer. The couple sat opposite each other on the train that had already been almost full when it pulled into Cambridge. They had felt relieved when they had actually found seats so close together, even putting the cases into the designated storage area had been a tight squeeze and Spencer was now pleased that he had taken up Ruth's offer.

The train was noisy with people using cell phones. Spencer wondered if people really knew just how annoying it could be for the fellow passengers to hear, "I'm on the train" repeated several times, and each time with an increase in volume, in order for the recipient to hear the call above the general noise of the train. But it wasn't just one passenger engaged in such a call, it seemed at one stage as if half of the train compartment were going through the same inane procedure as if in a fixed loop that they couldn't break away from.

The speaker system came alive and a bored sounding voice boomed out the standard message to passengers.

"Ladies and gentleman, this train is now approaching Kings Cross station where this train terminates. Would all passengers please remember to take all their luggage and we hope that you have had a pleasant journey."

"Not bloody likely…You never have enough carriages on this train!" a disgruntled male voice answered and several of the passengers smiled at each other at the unexpected show of protest.

Jo leaned across to Spencer and quietly said with sparkling black eyes, "Obviously a regular…Nice to know that the British public hasn't totally been pulled into line by…"

Spencer never heard Jo's next words as the world as he knew it came to an end.

End of Chapter 26


	27. Chapter 27

**The Interregnum: Chapter 27**

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**My apologies for the delay in posting this chapter but family matters have taken first place for my time. My elderly mother-in-law was admitted into hospital in December and she died, aged 99 years, at the end of January. I am sure that you can appreciate that we have been very busy these past two months with family concerns.**

The speaker system came alive, a bored sounding voice boomed out the standard message to passengers,

"Ladies and gentlemen, this train is now approaching Kings Cross station where this train terminates. Would all passengers please remember to take all their luggage and we hope that you have had a pleasant journey."

"Not bloody likely…You never have enough carriages on this train," a disgruntled male voice answered and several of the passengers smiled at each other at the show of protest.

"Obviously a regular…Nice to know that the British public hasn't been totally pulled into line by ..."

Spencer never heard Jo's next words as the world as he knew it came to an end.

Ruth grabbed her coffee and placed it on the small table beside the comfortable chair. She turned on the television and sank down on the chair and reached for the control set and switched from the children's cartoons to the midday news programme.

She froze as her brain registered the news summary running along the bottom of the screen.

"Suspected terrorist incident on a train as it approached Kings Cross station. Kings Cross and the adjoining St. Pancras stations have been evacuated and all trains cancelled until further notice. The East Anglia Express had been a very full train, starting at Norwich and last stop Cambridge before London. There are many casualties; London hospitals are on major incident status. All major services are on site and traffic is being diverted from the Kings Cross /St Pancras area."

The screen showed a view from a helicopter. Ruth was spellbound by the devastation; the front part of a train was hidden under the roof protecting the platform from the elements but the remainder was a twisted, buckled, heaving mass of metal. Part of the platform roof had also sustained damage near the train but the majority of the structure appeared to have remained sturdily in place. The yellow helmets of the fire brigade were dominating the scene and other figures could be made out carrying red covered stretchers away from the mangled mess.

Ruth felt sick but breathed hard and reached for her cell phone and dialled the pre-selected number.

"Jason…are you near a television? There's been a suspected terrorist incident at Kings Cross…News 24 or BBC1…I think it was the Reid's Cambridge train," she sounded calm but she felt detached from the voice that informed the man of the unfolding major incident.

She heard Jason catch his breath and then heard his deep voice speak with a measured calm that implied years of experience in dealing with devastating events.

"You're right, Ruth. I'll contact the Embassy and inform them about Spencer and Jo … Maybe they'll be able to get information about them to me once they know that a FBI agent was on the train. I'll be in touch as soon as I know anything."

The line clicked dead and Ruth sat feeling tiny and cold, unable to move from the chair, her whole attention was captivated by the news bulletin. Her heart pounded away in her chest but she silently prayed that their friends were all right.

At 3 p.m. Ruth collected the twins from their school and told them that she was expecting a call from Jason because there had been a suspected bomb on the train that Spencer and Jo had caught. She knew that it was impossible to keep the news from the twins and decided to be truthful about the reason for her own apprehension. The twins nodded and sensed the seriousness of the whole incident that had taken over the terrestrial channels on the television, but the satellite stations of children's television were still broadcasting as normal. The twins sat quietly watching 'Horrid Henry' for ten minutes before joining their mother in the kitchen where she had the tiny portable set tuned into the latest reports.

"They haven't rescued every body yet have they?" Adam asked revealing his understanding of the information that the newscaster had just given.

"No, they're still trying to get people out who are trapped. They have brought in some equipment to help but they have to be very careful. The rescue people are trying to get the passengers off the train before using the cranes," Ruth replied evenly but her heart was heavy with fear for her two new friends and she was still waiting to hear from Jason. Ruth knew Jason had many contacts from his former work although he had honestly told her about his final year at the BAU and how he'd left rather abruptly.

Zoe's small hand reached to hold her mother's and Ruth smiled down at her for the comfort that her daughter was instinctively trying to give her.

"I like Spencer and Jo…I'm sure they'll be all right. Spencer is very clever and he loves Jo so he would protect her," Zoe assured with her wide-eyed innocence.

Ruth couldn't stop the smile that appeared for her child and she wished that the world could be that simple. Unfortunately, the older you got the brutal realities of the world destroyed the simplistic beliefs that ruled a child's existence.

The demanding ring of her cell phone broke the moment and, as Ruth reached across the kitchen counter for it, she prayed that it was Jason. She automatically checked the caller's number and was relieved that the display confirmed her wishes.

"Jason…" she answered with anticipation in her tone.

"They're alive…Are you sitting down?"

"Yes in the kitchen with the twins…"

"OK. This is what the Embassy has just told me…The FBI Liaison Officer here was grateful for the tip off and started making enquiries immediately but, as you can imagine, its been quite chaotic at the scene and several hospitals are involved with the casualties.

Jo is in University College Hospital close by and was unconscious when they got her off the train and she's now under observation for head trauma. She also has superficial cuts and bruises but appears to have been protected from a lot of damage because Spencer fell on top of her. However, he sustained the worst injuries because the carriage structure buckled and broke near him and then there was the weight of other passengers being thrown about when the carriage derailed and toppled…"

Ruth caught her breath and asked what was on her mind,

"And Spencer's injuries?"

"He's in surgery…Again at the UCH. I was only told that his leg was very badly mangled and that he was given blood at the scene because of the blood loss that was not helped by the delay in reaching him. I'm driving down there to stay with Ben Hickson and I'll ring you from the hospital if they will let me near them. Jo's parents have been informed and are already being flown out. I rang Aaron Hotchner because I thought he'd like to know but the Director had already informed him, however, Hotch asked me to keep in touch. You all right?"

"Yes, just keep me informed about them."

Dr. Jason Gideon was now grateful for his fame as a profiler and the courses that he'd been participating in with the British police forces. The Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police, that had the responsibility for the British capital, had been very eager to send officers to hear about his work and the application of profiling for cases. There were British profilers but they were not as well established and they didn't have the reputation that the BAU had been building since its conception. Ben Hickson was a senior officer within the Met, as the Metropolitan force was inevitably shortened to, and was involved with organised crime surveillance. This sometimes overlapped with the work of counter terrorism, although the trend of the recent Islamic terrorists were to have a small highly trained cell with no known links to other criminal organisations within an area. The overlapping came about when surveillance teams stumbled across a terrorist cell while watching their own suspects because of the areas in which they lived. It was a case of being aware of suspect behaviour beyond the immediate suspects they were watching and the exchange of data between the police and secret service departments.

Gideon was grateful for the bed offered by his contact and the space to park his hired car. The rail services into London had been stopped so he had to hire a car to get there because the coach service was fully booked. The car would be quicker anyway although he knew he'd not be able to easily drive around the capital, which was notorious for its lack of parking. But at least being able to safely park the car and travel in on the Underground system was a godsend in this emergency. He was pleased that the Underground had not been targeted as well so it was still running, although obviously trains were not stopping at the Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations.

Ruth set about preparing the evening meal and the twins busied themselves making 'Get Well' cards for Spencer and Jo.

Alan and Margaret Petersen sat in silence on the plane but Alan held Margaret's hand as their only form of communication and comfort. Alan just couldn't believe that the thoroughly enjoyable vacation in Britain had been brought to such a traumatic end. The FBI had been wonderful in providing transport to the airport and arranging tickets and accommodation at such short notice. Within two hours they had been on this plane and had been assured that Embassy staff would meet them at Heathrow and help to speed their way through customs.

Alan wondered just how much this family could take. There had been the death of his son, Daniel, and nephew, Lawrence Bevan, in the Twin Towers. Then soon after there had been the murder of Sandrine and the attack on Jo. Jo had been so happy since meeting Spencer and their marriage had been a very quiet 'family affair' but for the Petersen and Bevan families it had signified that life felt good once more. Craig had been in surgery when they had left so Melinda had taken the message and was herself, as a former ICU nurse, well aware of trauma procedures that could follow such an incident.

Jeff informed Marilyn and she immediately had rung Margaret with the instructions of keeping in touch and to ask if they wanted her to fly out as well. Margaret had said that they would find out how things were first and if possible they wanted to get both of them back to the States as soon as medically feasible. Alan knew that Melinda had set herself the task of researching the costs and possibilities, but she had warned that it would all depend on the injuries involved and the hospital that the FBI would sanction for such a transfer for Spencer. Alan sighed, it helped having medical people in the family but the FBI paid for Spencer's medical insurance and in the end the FBI would have the final say, despite the fact that he was on vacation when this incident occurred. Alan just wanted to be there at the hospital; he needed to see his daughter for himself and find out about Spencer too…He could hardly forget Spencer because he was as much a son to them now as Craig.

Margaret was silently trapped within her own thoughts. She was a former nurse herself and her professional mind was working overtime as to the sort of injuries that could be incurred from a train crash and this one was suspected to have been caused by an explosive device. She didn't want to worry Alan any more than he already was by sharing her wild rambling thoughts on the possibilities. Margaret firmly began to pull herself together; it was no good getting carried away with her imagination running riot, she needed to see the medical charts to get a feel for the real prognosis.

Gideon was fortunate that FBI agents, attached to the Embassy, were already at the University College Hospital when he arrived. There had been 10 US citizens on the train and 6 of them had been brought here. He identified himself with his passport to Agent Foster who had obviously been briefed about him.

"Sir, I think I would have still remembered you although it's 11 years ago now since I attended one of your lectures at Quantico," he said taking Gideon to a tiny room that he'd been assigned to talk to relatives.

"Mrs. Reid is unconscious but her parents are already on the plane and it is hoped that she will have come round by the time they arrive. She has some cuts from flying glass and is also badly bruised from being crushed beneath other bodies. When she was first pulled out of the wreckage they thought that she was more seriously injured because her clothing was soaked in blood but this seems to have come from her husband's injures," he reported crisply.

Gideon nodded, "Do you know very much about Dr. Reid's injuries?"

"He was covered in blood…most of which was his own from what I heard the paramedics report to the duty doctor. I got a brief glimpse; Dr Reid was very pale and he was on a drip. It was the right leg that was causing the concern. I didn't see it but he was rushed straight into surgery…that was nearly two hours ago and he's still there. I explained that he's one of our agents so I will be informed with any updates. I also told the hospital Administrator that you were listed as next of kin alongside the Petersens and Agent Hotchner, as his Unit Chief. They tend to be very careful about giving out information here unless you are immediate kin but when you're working for the FBI you can still pull a few strings. I had to prove that he was an agent but once the Administrator accepted this then the medical staff have been very good at keeping me informed about both Dr. and Mrs. Reid."

"Can I go and sit with Jo…Mrs. Reid?" Gideon asked, "We only put them on the train this morning…They had a few days in Cambridge where Dr. Reid had been giving some lectures; they had been going home today."

Agent Darren Foster nodded with understanding. It was the nature of terrorism to be brutally indiscriminate in the consequences of such actions. All too often it was good innocent people who where the casualties and had nothing to do with any grievance that the Terrorists might claim as their cause.

Foster led the way along busy corridors where the anguish of friends and families was beginning to take hold.

Jo was in a tiny bay with four beds, two on each side of the designated area within the larger observation ward. The four beds all had brightly coloured floral curtains drawn around them to give some privacy to the patient and their loved ones. The former agent sat down on the hard grey plastic chair set beside the bed. Gideon was aware of the comforting words a female voice was giving to the occupant of the bed to the left of him and nearest the window in the small bay. It was strangely quiet with people naturally speaking in hushed tones alongside the rhythmic bleeping of machinery.

Gideon stared at the still form on the bed. Her round face was criss-crossed with tiny lacerations that were held together by fine 'butterfly' tape. It looked worse than it was because there was a good chance that these superficial cuts would heal well and not leave scars or, if they did, would probably be disguised by make up. There were bruises visible on the right side of her face and her arms. The bruises disappeared into the short sleeve of the pale blue hospital gown she was wearing and implied further bruising on the torso because there was discoloration of the skin around the neckline. There was some more butterfly tape on both of her hands and Gideon found himself fixated by the deep scars of defence wounds on Jo's left hand. It reminded him how often he saw Spencer holding that imperfect hand and the significance of that simple act. Gideon reached out to take that cold hand within his own, it was limp but the hand could no longer flex itself into an open and flat position. Consequently, the hand was slightly curled already and Gideon had to fit his own much larger hand around this contortion. He squeezed the hand gently and whispered,

"It's Jason Gideon, Jo. I'm going to sit with you a while. Your parents are already on a plane and I'll try and stay until they arrive. Spencer is in surgery but I don't know how bad things are, other than one of his legs was badly hurt. Ruth rang me as soon as she saw the news report and I contacted the Embassy…"

He let his words flow and he found that he was telling her all about his first impressions of meeting Spencer as a doctoral student at Princeton and persuading the Bureau to bend their age rules to at least give him an interview. He talked about his friends who had made up the team he had headed and lost at Boston and how Spencer had been ill and not included in that assignment. Gideon let his heart open up in a way he had not done with his FBI colleagues, but he was on the outside now and saw his life differently because he no longer had a big reputation within the BAU to maintain. This older and wiser man softly spoke about his mistakes and admitted to the silent patient that he should have resigned after the Boston bombings, or have returned solely as a consultant, but he had eventually learnt the hard way.

Gideon heard the curtain rings rustle and turned to see Agent Foster with a large Starbucks coffee in his hand.

"Thought you might like this as one of the junior Embassy staff was making the trip for some decent coffee…"

Gideon smiled and was grateful for the thoughtfulness.

"Sorry there's no news yet about Dr. Reid. We're all rather shocked that he's injured because he's got quite a reputation after his recent successes back home…I've never met him to speak to, although I saw him last summer when he was assisting in annual psych evaluations but I didn't have my interview with him. Some of the agents thought he looked too young for the work but those who were assessed by him said he was very good and put them at ease very quickly because he was an agent himself."

"Yes, I always found that to be an advantage to win the confidence of the agent being assessed," Gideon conceded, "I used to do my share of assessments although you are always assigned away from your base…usually I was sent to Washington or Philadelphia. It made a change to the profiling work and I enjoyed keeping up that side of my qualification."

"Judge Petersen and his wife have landed and are on the way here. The traffic is heavy so it'll probably be another hour or so to get here from Heathrow despite British customs waving them through without any hold ups…"

"Yeah, good to know that we still have some friendly countries in the this crazy world isn't it?" Gideon mused as he sipped the fresh coffee and savoured the taste. He absently wondered when had it become night.

Foster nodded and smiled, "Must admit, it's not been a hardship being sent here and I've met some interesting people…."

"Now that's a nice way of saying…quaint and eccentric people at times," Gideon teased and thought about the friends he had in Cambridge.

Foster grinned, "Guess so, but once you know them they're generally kind and helpful and always eager to talk about their history…It's such an interesting place to be stationed."

"Yes, its hard to be bored here, I'm very happy with my present work in Cambridge," Gideon admitted but any further exchanges were halted by the agent's cell phone.

"Sorry, Sir, I have to take this…"

Gideon continued to hold Jo's hand and to talk about his experiences as Spencer's mentor. Gideon felt a movement in Jo's hand. He stopped his narration and concentrated on the feeling. Gideon wondered for a moment if he had imagined it as she seemed just deeply sleeping, like when he had first arrived, but then he noticed a tiny fluttering beneath the closed eye lids.

"Jo your parents are on their way from Heathrow and Spencer is still in surgery," Gideon calmly stated a couple of times but the patient seemed to make no further effort to consciousness. He was acutely aware of the medical profession who assured people that hearing was the sense that should not be under estimated if the patient appeared to be unconscious and was why visitors were encouraged to talk to their friends and loved ones. Gideon had never counted how many times he had sat beside a hospital bed engaged in this activity but he did know, that for him, more often than not the injured had survived but it was sadly those who had not who haunted his memories. Gideon wanted Jo to come round but perhaps it would be the familiarity of her parents' voices that would be the magic key to re-opening her world again.

The former agent continued recounting his stories of Spencer's early exploits. Time passed but Gideon kept up his flow of words until he heard the curtains move, then he'd briefly stop to assess who the visitor happened to be. Agent Foster did not return but a nurse had been coming by every half-hour to check upon the patient. A first this was a slightly built Asian looking woman, her smooth dark skin made the white of her uniform top stand out. However, after four visits the Asian nurse was replaced by a tall, and overweight, befreckled red head who seemed by contrast very noisy as she bustled in to check the equipment readings. Where as the Asian nurse had merely nodded her acknowledgement of his presence this nurse eventually smiled and said,

"You're doing well, I wish all our patients had someone to sit with them like you…Your daughter's going to be all right, sir," she assured.

"I'm not her father," Gideon corrected and the nurse turned to face him a little surprised.

"Oh, sorry, your partner's doing well," she tried again.

Gideon smiled and shook his head and decided to clarify the matter, "I'm a friend of both Mrs. Reid and her husband. Mrs. Reid's parents have landed at Heathrow but it's a case of getting through the traffic."

The nurse nodded and stared at Gideon, "You're a good man to sit here like you have. Nila told me, when she ended her shift and passed on the patient notes, that you'd been here for hours. You must know the family well then?"

"Actually, I've never formally met her parents although her father is known to me by sight. I know Jo here because I worked alongside her husband for several years."

"Oh…he's coming too?"

"The last I heard he was still in surgery," Gideon replied and the nurses' eyes widened.

"Oh I'm really sorry, I'm making a mess of this aren't I? So Mr. Reid was on the train too and badly injured?"

"Yes…they had been staying in Cambridge and we had spent a few days together…"

Further voices approached and Gideon noted Agent Foster's tone and two new voices…

"I think Mrs. Reid's parents are here…" Gideon said and was about to rise from the chair when the curtain was pulled aside.

"Dr. Gideon…I'm Alan Petersen and this is my wife, Margaret," the steady voice announced but the dark eyes betrayed their own worry as the hand was proffered in universal greeting.

"Jason or Gideon…I answer to either," he said rising to grip the hand firmly and moving aside so Margaret could take the seat.

The nurse had slipped away and Gideon was also about to leave when he found that Alan had followed him away from the curtained bed and out of the bay area. They walked together quietly, by an unspoken consent, to the corridor beyond the observation ward where they then felt more able to talk.

"Agent Foster told me that you've been here most of the time since the incident happened with Jo…I must thank you for you kindness in giving her your attention."

"Not at all, I'm very fond of both Jo and Spencer and informed the Embassy as soon as I could that they'd been on the train…Driving down was the natural thing for me to do. I'll go and wait for Spencer to come out of surgery…He's been there a long time and Foster didn't have much detail about his injuries other than a leg looked badly hurt."

Alan nodded, "Yes, that's all we were told too, but it doesn't sound too good if he's been in surgery all this time…Margaret's a former nurse and I served with the army medical corps…"

Gideon nodded his understanding. Here were two parents who knew how to read medical charts and talk the language of medical personnel so they would not be intimidated by the machines and bustle around them.

"Have you been fixed up with accommodation?" Gideon asked.

"Yeah…near by, but we just dumped the cases and came straight here. We can't complain the Bureau really got things moving for us…And you?"

"I've a friend who works for the police here…I parked my car at his house and took the underground to get here but I've a bed too for as long as I like. Look you stay with your daughter and I'll try and keep track of Spencer. I'm sure that Foster will keep you informed but I'll sit with Spencer once he's out of surgery so he's not on his own and to tell him that Jo is OK."

The two parted and Gideon made his way back to the room Foster had been assigned. He found himself being given an unofficial update by the agent as they waited for further news of Dr. Reid.

"The word is that a bomb had been placed in the luggage rack in the first class compartment at the front of the train and detonated remotely with a cell phone call. They think who ever planted it got off at Cambridge and left the bag," said Foster and Gideon felt his stomach flip over at the thought that the terrorist could have walked past them as they were saying their goodbyes on the platform earlier that morning.

"Well, they got the timing wrong, the train was held up outside the station while other trains crossed over the lines so it was late approaching the platform. The Terrorist Squad here think that the plan was to detonate the bomb as the train stopped at the station…then more people would probably been hurt by the roof damage and flying metal across the platform and concourse as passengers disembarked. As it was, it exploded just as the engine reached the covered area so the majority of the blast was not in a confined area, although it has caused deaths and many injuries it could all had been far worse if the train had reached the station".

"Are they identifying any terrorist group as responsible yet?" Gideon asked because he'd not been near a television or radio to hear the latest accounts.

"No one has claimed responsibility yet but al Qaeda is high on the list. The 'responsibility' problem may not be so easy solved. There are so many little splinter groups and too many disgruntled elements in the world who can easily jump on the aftermath of a terrorist incident, if you take my meaning, and Britain has many diverse groups from all over the world."

Gideon nodded; terrorism was not as easy as some people liked to believe. They were sometimes a hardcore group, but all to often the dispossessed in various far flung conflicts could be recruited to act against, what for them, would seem to be a unfeeling and disinterested all powerful western state. Gideon sighed, he hoped the perpetrators would be caught quickly, but these people could have been lying low unsuspected for years and done nothing to arouse suspicion during that time. Gideon had been brought up in the climate of the Cold War and the fear of the Russian threat, but Russia had not used such indiscriminate terrorist tactics as these. Gideon thought about the brutality of the world in which he lived and how all youth seemed to start out in their lives hoping for a peaceful world. However, soon such idealistic dreams are squashed by varying degrees of dictatorships, land disagreements and the ideology around religious beliefs, that revealed too many rigid minds that sought only to highlight the differences, rather than to emphasise the common points of interest that might exist amongst humanity.

"Dr Gideon?" a quiet new voice interjected his thoughts.

Gideon looked up and saw that a young looking blond, grey eyed Doctor, dressed in a pale green tunic top and pants, had entered the room and was standing beside Foster.

"I'm Dr. Roseberry, a member of the orthopaedic team that operated on Dr Reid…"

Gideon felt his mouth go dry with the anticipation and fear of the next few words. He nodded and the doctor continued in a flat monotonous tone as if he was giving a report to a board meeting and he was totally bored with the subject matter.

"We tried very hard to save the right leg but in the end we had to amputate just below the knee. It was an intricate amputation and I must say that our finest surgeon took charge of the proceedings and it was not a decision that we took lightly. I understand that you are named as Dr Reid's next of kin, and a former colleague, and that his in-laws have arrived from America?" the young doctor stated but Gideon was appalled by his lack of 'people skills'.

"Yes, they are with Jo…Mrs. Reid, and they would appreciate being told this from you too. But how is Spencer at the moment?"

"We've managed to stabilise him now and he's in post-op…He'll be kept sedated for some hours. He'd lost a lot of blood and at one stage we had to transfuse 6 pints…and, well lets just say, we almost lost him. But he's now seems stable and we'll be keeping a very careful watch over him for the next few days. Of course, he'll require extensive re-habilitation in the coming months but he's young and I'm sure that physically he'll adjust to a prosthetic limb but it's the mental adjustment that's the real hurdle."

"He's a very strong man," Gideon said coldly and the doctor looked sharply at the older man as he spoke with a tone of censure, "Dr. Reid has experienced far more of life than you will ever touch upon but he's a 'fighter' in the best sense of the word. I for one feel honoured to be considered a friend. I hope that you tell his wife in a far more sensitive way than you have told me. I'd better warn you that his mother-in-law was once a nurse and their son is a burn's surgeon so you had better be compassionate…"

Agent Foster felt satisfied that Gideon had implied his distaste with the doctor's manner. It was amazing, despite all the money spent on medical training, that there were still doctors who were incompetent when dealing with people, although they might be the best surgeons in the world when presented with a medical emergency.

**Ten Days Later**

Spencer Reid lay back on the spacious stretcher savouring the few minutes of personal space. Everyone around him had been trying very hard to be kind and considerate but sometimes Spencer just wished for a few more quiet moments like the present time. Jo had sensed his mood and excused herself. He was glad to be on his way back to Washington and to his surprise Aaron Hotchner was accompanying him for the trip along with Dr. Colin Harrison. Dr Harrison was part of the medical staff at the Quantico Marine Base, and also a friend of Spencer's, who had volunteered his time for this trip.

Dr. Harrison was a tall and strapping white haired man; the white fuzz of his head contrasted against his very dark skin. 'Doc Harry', as the Marines called him, was well known for his early morning runs and in the summer months, Reid was one of many who had run beside him around the base for the exercise. Harrison was also an amputee and made a point of saying to all the servicemen that loosing part of a limb was not the end of the world, but rather a new challenge to conquer. Harrison had himself been injured in a road side bomb in the early days of the Iraq invasion but had gone through the re-habilitation schedule and come out the other end determined to still be a serving doctor. True he was confined to a military base, but he had the respect of the personnel around him for his positive attitude to life and was an example to others who faced such injuries.

There was also an agency nurse called Karen Towse, who had made a speciality of 'repatriation flights' for patients. She was in her late forties and her short hair showed signs of grey creeping in amongst the brunette. What really mattered about this nurse was the friendly manner alongside her professional demeanour. Karen had told Jo and Spencer that she had trained in Baltimore and worked for the Army for ten years before getting hooked by this specialist agency work. Reid had felt relaxed with her on their first introduction and she slipped into an easy friendly banter with Doc Harry.

The patient sank back on the bed and let his thoughts roam. Spencer couldn't remember anything of the actual blast because he had lost consciousness and almost bled to death from the wounds to his legs. The badly mangled right leg had defeated the efforts of surgeons but he still considered the amputation just below the knee better than losing the leg above the joint. However, Spencer felt blessed because Jo was alive and his hands and brain had escaped injury. It was these matters that kept the amputation in perspective and he smiled at the thought that he would still be able to play his beloved lute and his father's treasured violin. It was this seemingly rather trivial fact that helped him over the initial trauma especially as he was acutely aware that Jo had been an accomplished cellist before she had been attacked by Sandrine's murderer.

He remembered how he had come round to Gideon's calm voice and was immediately told that Jo was alive. Gideon had repeated this several times to re-assure him and Spencer grasped the news that she had superficial cuts and was being kept under observation because of a head injury. Spencer Reid had then passed out allowing the sickly sweet smell of the hospital room to wrap around him and drag him back into the world of the sedatives and painkillers.

The next time he re-surfaced to consciousness, Alan was beside him talking about the kindness of Gideon and recounting the details of renovating his old Volvo. Reid relived the feelings of disorientation and fear for Jo all again….

Spencer's mouth had felt dry and as if full of cotton wool but he noted the drip attached to his prominent veins in his left arm and heard the gentle bleep of the monitor beside the bed.

"Jo?" he managed and thought how thin and detached his voice sounded. Alan had leaned over and pressed the button to summon nursing assistance as he said,

"She's come round but they want her to stay in bed at least for a few more hours. She had quite a bang on the head but she was speaking coherently when I left Margaret with her."

Spencer sensed something was wrong but his whole body felt heavy with pain dulling drugs. However, he was aware enough to see the worry in Alan's eyes and he tried to focus his thoughts on clinging to the reality of the small room he was in.

A nurse had swept in to check his status and smiled at him.

"Good you see you have come round, Dr. Reid. My name is Alice Knussett and I'm specially trained for work in this department…" Reid's mind slowly whirled into gear, he knew something wasn't quite right and he needed to know a little more.

"What's that?" he huskily asked and then found a plastic strawed beaker of tepid water near his lips and he automatically sucked and savoured the liquid. The fluid seemed to give him a little more time to sharpen his wits and when he had drunk enough he pushed the straw out of his mouth with his tongue…

"Which department?" he had asked more clearly and kept his eyes locked on her blue ones.

The blond nurse blushed a little at the intense stare the patient managed but pulled herself together to say,

"You're a patient in the orthopaedic department, and under Mr. Worth…We call our consultants mister in this country and he's one of the best orthopaedic surgeons in Britain."

The words had made him look down the bed for the first time and saw that the lower part of his body was surrounded by a frame that made the bedding take on a tent like appearance over his legs. He focussed his mind on his legs in a panic and was relieved when he realised that he could feel his butt and had even managed to move his legs but there was a numbing…a heaviness and a 'wrongness' to the whole situation.

Spencer then recalled how Alan had taken his hand and the action made him look straight into his father-in-laws' eyes. The older man spoke with a quiet firmness that was full of strength.

"Your right leg was so badly damaged that they couldn't save it and had to amputate below the knee. Jo knows and she's fiercely positive about it all …It doesn't mean the end of the world Spencer…True it's the end of your life as an agent but, as Gideon said, you'll probably get paid more as a consultant anyway and the Bureau won't want to lose your skills…." Alan had squeezed his hand reassuringly while his dark eyes blazed with a familiar defiance that Spencer had often witnessed in the daughter.

It all seemed a long time ago now. Although there was going to be months of re-habilitation both the hospital and the Bureau staff had been very positive about his ability to lead a fulfilling life. Gideon had been to see him every day and Jo had told him bluntly that he was going riding with her again as soon as he could get the balance to climb back on a horse.

Spencer Reid had naturally experienced his times of doubt during those early days but news that 'Doc Harry' had volunteered to be the attending physician on the flight home had made him feel very humble. Spencer acknowledged to himself just how much these people around him wanted Spencer Reid to still believe in himself as a whole person with a rich future ahead. Harry was the ideal example of how to pick up a career after an amputation.

Harrison had bounced into the University College Hospital that morning and his cheerful manner quickly charmed the staff with his larger than life personality. Jo had liked him instantly and he proudly announced to her that his amputation above the knee hadn't put a stop to his enjoyment of life…

"I'll confess to having to slightly adjust to accommodate my prosthesis but I haven't slowed down any…in fact, my Georgie tells people I'm even more of a dare devil these days and it takes her a lot of effort to keep up with me and the children!"

Once on his own with Spencer he'd said quietly, "Having doubts is natural but you've a lot in your favour and the biggest amongst them is a loving and supportive wife together with her family and then there are the FBI people. Some of your colleagues have already made a point of contacting me when they heard I'd be on this flight with you and were asking how they will be able to help once you get into the exercise regime. Morgan, Anderson and Prentiss are determined to be there for some of your workouts, especially the walking and running schedules. Someone called Josh Kramer, from Maryland, says he'll try and drop by whenever he's Virginia way. Then Hotch is not going to be left out and he was plotting with Jo about getting you back in the saddle and riding together. That's the problem with being an amputee…most stables insist that you ride out with an able partner but I've always had my pick of people wanting to accompany me so don't be shy of taking up the offers…You know these are your friends and the offers are genuine. Believe me, it's times like these that you find out who your friends are and you'd better count me in with your Bureau buddies. We'll have you jogging round with us like you did when I got to that stage of my recovery…It was a great feeling being able to run alongside the able-bodied because everyone treated me as an equal and we all laughed together when I occasionally fell over."

It felt good to be on his way home but Spencer had promised Gideon and Ruth that he'd be back next Easter to follow upon the success of his first Cambridge lectures. Ruth had brought his father's violin to the airport and Jo had it as part of her hand luggage and it had pleased Spencer that Gideon had introduced Ruth to Hotch at the same time. Reid was also delighted to observe that Hotch seemed to bear no resentment towards Gideon over the manner of his departure. The two men had come together over the traumatic incident affecting Reid and their united front, in being positive for the future, propelled them forward and past any residue of awkwardness that might remain from their past history.

Spencer and Jo Reid were survivors of a terrorist incident that had left 63 dead and 106 injured. Those injuries were across the range from superficial cuts and bruising, like Jo had experienced, to the more life threatening and disabling. Reid still considered himself fortunate considering the outcomes of other survivors: three of whom had sustained severe back injuries that had left them paraplegic, four other people had their sight affected by flying glass and tiny shards of metal. Whenever Spencer felt down he had only to remind himself of his survival and the facts were that he would be able to carry on a near normal life despite a prosthesis that had yet to be fitted. He was just relieved that Jo had survived and he had not sustained a severe brain injury like two of the victims who had not yet recovered consciousness. His superficial cuts and the bruising were healing well and the post operative wound was the pride of the surgeon and he had showed off his handiwork to his minions the day before. It was a teaching hospital and such events were quite normal on the wards but the younger medics had not expected the articulate patient to also present some searching questions of his own to Mr. Worth.

The incident was all thought to be the work of two terrorists who were from Somalia and had been made homeless by the civil war there and eventually had gained asylum in Britain where they had studied medical science at London University. They had been trusted postgraduate students and had never drawn attention to themselves by being outwardly strident about their political or religious beliefs. The security forces had issued photos of these suspects but so far they had not been found and it was suspected that they were safely hiding amongst sympathetic refugees. However, the more the security forces delved into their backgrounds then past links were revealed with extremist splinter groups that were sympathetic towards al Qaeda. The suspects had twice been to visit 'friends' in Pakistan under the guise of offering their expertise in medical pathology work to cash strapped provincial hospitals in the Bannu region, on the Pakistani North West Frontier near Afghanistan.

It had shocked Reid that this voluntary 'humanitarian work' had been accepted at face value and not queried as suspicious by Pakistani officials nor the British security network despite the volatile region that they had gone to 'voluntarily' work in. However, it was the old story of a western country offering political asylum to young and talented refugees from a troubled region of the world only to have their 'generosity' repaid by active terrorism. Reid was saddened that there would probably be a political backlash because of the public's call for tighter controls on refugees allowed to stay and any tightening of such rules would only serve to also prevent the genuine peaceful refugee from finding a safe haven.

The memories came to a halt as Hotch slipped in with two coffees.

"Here you are…Jo assures me it's just as you like it!" he said handing over the large mug.

"I've asked not to be disturbed for a little while because I've got a few things to tell you …I was at a meeting about your future before I flew out and the Director doesn't want to lose you to academia. He's working out a very good consultant package and Max Pentall had his say about that too."

Spencer sipped the coffee and listened carefully. Hotch was pleased to see how alert Spencer was once he touched upon his future with the Bureau. Hotchner had flown out late the previous day and his mission was to specifically assure the genius that he was still wanted within the Bureau. The Director had also asked for Hotch's assessment of Reid's reaction to the proposals and his general well being.

"Max and I…well the Director too…wanted you to know that we want you back. You obviously wouldn't pass a physical with the leg but that brain of yours and your experience with profiling is just too good to go to waste in academia. This is for your ears only… The BAU is about to face a shake up in its organisation and it means that new people are going to be moved into the department and some will have promotions."

Spencer sat avidly listening and wondered just what the changes would mean. Aaron gave one of his rare smiles.

"I'm going to be promoted to Section Chief while Erin Strauss is to be moved to a less stressful position. She's just been given sick leave for at least three months for work related stress. Max and his people think the stress of running her section under the demanding financial cuts has taken its toll on her health and as a consequence her managerial skills have suffered. Now remember this is all between just us two…To everyone else back at the Bureau, Strauss is just on sick leave and some people think it's because her son has been having a few problems at his school."

Spencer nodded with understanding but couldn't resist asking, "Do you know where she's going?"

"The Director is going to place her in a position monitoring the Female Recruitment Programme and she'll be based in Delaware…a small place but they do think there is a need for more women at that field office."

"And the rest of the re-organisation…Where do I fit into it all?" asked Spencer who couldn't keep some concern from surfacing.

"Max has got his way. There are to be three away teams to ease the stresses of the work that our team experienced a bit too much. Three new people are going to come in to lead the teams but they are going to be answerable to Barry who will be the new Unit Chief keeping an eye on the day to day running of the BAU."

"So Barry will have the managerial role he's had for some time but with your title," Spencer stated.

"Yes, he's very good at keeping the BAU running under pressure and he's excellent at assigning the work loads."

"He was a very good profiler when I first started at the BAU," Spencer replied and felt a pang of sadness for those early days and a team of people who had been lost in the line of duty.

"Barry still is a very good profiler. I've never under-estimated his abilities but he knew the strain the 'away' team put on family life and chose to step back from that work to concentrate on keeping the department running smoothly while Gideon, and then I, were away with the team. Barry has been consulted about the changes and it will mean a long deserved promotion for him," replied Hotch evenly, wondering how Spencer was adjusting to the news because he had one of his withdrawn thoughtful looks…

Spencer nodded but wondered how the rest of the BAU would react to the changes.

"Are you intending to split up the present team?" he suddenly asked.

Hotch looked steadily at his colleague, "Do you think it a good idea?"

"I think the changes proposed also provide an excellent opportunity to 'fit' personalities better into a working team, especially if there are going to be potentially three away teams even if that means that more time will be spent in the office than out in the field."

Hotch smiled at the statement, he was well aware that Pentall saw Reid as a future successor to himself should Reid decide to concentrate on the psychological assessment and support of agents. Pentall had predicted Reid's reaction to the Director and now Hotch was fascinated to see how well Max knew the man.

"It will probably be considered, but we have to appoint the three 'leads' for the teams first so there is a clear team leader, otherwise previous away team members might think that they automatically get seniority and that isn't going to be the case. The Director wants to use the talents of some other good people who have served their time following initial BAU training and then passed on and used their skills in other departments. There are five agents under consideration for 'team leader' but no firm decisions yet. Barry and I will sit in on the selection process, and depending on who are chosen, that will probably influence how each of the teams will be formed. You're specifically thinking about Morgan aren't you?"

Reid gave Hotch a steady look and nodded before adding, "Morgan will probably think that his years on the 'away' team gives him some seniority and if he's too disgruntled then he might be looking for a transfer."

"Max raised that too. It's important to have the right people leading an away team, people who have that essential skill of trusting their colleagues' abilities enough to delegate tasks. Morgan still has a tendency to micro-manage and thinks that he has to be central to every development within a case. Good leaders are confident enough to take a back seat, and to accept the talents of those under them, and not to feel that their authority is threatened by any one within their team. Morgan's early experiences, unfortunately, means that he doesn't trust people enough."

"Yes," Spencer replied softly but he still felt that the agent would feel that his ego had taken a substantial hit when these changes were implemented.

"You haven't said where I fit into these new arrangements?" Spencer challenged again in his quiet but stubborn manner, wanting to know his position in the new order.

"You can be the senior consultant psych. Your profiling skills have already been widely acknowledged by your work within the BAU and the CACU, furthermore there were the interviews you did with the dying Clark Norton. In fact the Director wants to put you in charge of that 'interviewing programme' to see if our understanding of serial killers and other dangerous offenders can be further understood. Spencer you would be going back to your doctoral research days but you might be able to give some more families closure like you did for those Clark Norton victims. This could all lead to you writing more books and there would be the lecturing programme at Quantico and you'd be able to accept lecturing invitations like the one in Cambridge. It got back to the Bureau how successful the British thought those were. So that's it…now what are your initial feelings about the offer?"

Spencer sipped more coffee and then looked up and smiled at Hotch.

"I'd still like to keep up my psychology qualification with agent assessments if Max approves. I liked to think that agents responded to me because I had worked in the field and therefore understood the pressures at first hand," Spencer explained.

Hotchner's dark eyes twinkled and nodded his assent, "I'm sure that Max will be delighted to keep you on his team. I think he was hoping that you would raise the possibility but he wanted you to offer yourself in that direction," Hotch replied.

Spencer looked thoughtful and then asked, "Max didn't put an offer in for my services himself?"

Hotch realised that the question revealed that Reid had a nagging doubt about his appropriateness for the psychological support services, or was it that he worried about Max's motives for not putting in a request for his abilities in that area.

"I don't think I've represented Max's position clearly," Hotch clarified to be scrupulously fair, "Max did say that if you wanted to completely transfer over to his department then you would be most welcome. But he thought that you might like to keep a foot in both camps, like Gideon had done, by helping out on the annual psych assessments. Max was adamant that he wanted the decision about your future role with the Bureau to be influenced by how you felt you could fit into the organisation. We would all understand if you felt the need for a complete break from your former department and I wouldn't feel slighted if you want to consider Max's department full time, or even a different department within the Bureau. Lets face it with your abilities you could be a consultant within many other departments. Of course, you might want to leave the Bureau altogether and enter full time academia or just take a totally different direction altogether. But Max is correct…the decision must be totally yours and I'd understand if you did want a complete break from the BAU especially as you'll not be an agent out in the field…."

Hotch watched Spencer carefully and tried to assess his thinking over the matter.

"I've done a lot of thinking about it and Jo and I have talked about our future too. Gideon felt that the Bureau would offer me a consultant's position and what's on the table with the 'interviewing programme' is very tempting, but I really don't want to give up the psych assessments. I enjoyed my role at the CACU supporting the agents under me and the time spent with Max's people was a different sort of challenge. Agents are not the easiest of people to get to relax and be honest for their assessments. But I found I could prise them open a bit and there was certainly more respect for me because I was an agent then, even if I no longer can claim that position, I still feel that I can be of some use in that area of work."

Hotch was pleased to hear his reply although he still felt the need to re-assure his former agent and the man who was his friend.

"Spencer, your fame goes before you. Your work at the CACU has really put your name out to the wider world and the Bureau really doesn't want to lose any of your talents. The Director personally chose me to inform you of this proposal. He might even have thought that I'd have some influence over you…I'm not such a fool as to think I would hold such a power, but I was more that delighted to come and see my friend and colleague and offer you my support for the future. I'm happy to return with the news that you're interested in being the senior consultant but that you also want to keep your link with Max's department…I don't think that there'll be a problem and I know that Max and his team will eagerly await you joining them." Hotch stated firmly and smiled thinking that Spencer was in a far better state psychologically and physically than he had anticipated. However, he reminded himself, that Gideon had been with him every day since the incident and had obviously spent time dealing with some of the initial doubts and psychological trauma following the blast. The man and his wife had been very lucky and they both had a great deal to be thankful for despite the severe injury that Spencer had experienced.

Spencer listened carefully to the re-assurances, the offer was more than he could have dreamed and to a certain extent he was even dictating some of the terms. It would all have to be discussed in finer detail but he could still see a future within the FBI and the BAU itself.

"We want to start a family," he suddenly said to Hotch, "Being based at Quantico and working more regular hours will be more conducive to family life. But the odd days away with the interviewing programme, or lecturing, together with some psych assessments will keep me from getting bored with just being bound to the BAU office."

"You do get Gideon's old office to call your own and you would be leading the unsub profile before a team leaves. They would be able to keep in touch for consults while out in the field but I warn you now with the technology for video conferencing and Skype you might still feel that you are on call 24 hours a day!" Hotchner counselled but Spencer smiled ruefully.

"I've a very busy brain and it would still make me feel that I was part of the active enquiry even if hundreds of miles away…But the best part would be still sleeping in my own bed," he countered, " Or don't you like the sound of your own promotion?"

Hotch grinned, "After all the years I've spent being called away and being in the dog house for ruining something 'special' the thought of being based as a section head, and getting home at night, is very attractive. The baby is expected in a couple of months and I've enjoyed my time on the Director's Special Team because I was getting home most nights. Jack has enjoyed seeing his Daddy more and Hayley seems a lot happier too. The down side has been the Washington politics of the Special Team work but I found the profiling skills extremely useful and made them work to my advantage. I'm a career agent and I think there were times at the BAU that the pressure of the work was such that I didn't relax enough to be myself and assess just what the work was doing to my family life and me. The time away with the Director's Special Team has reminded me that I am still that career agent. On reflection, I'll admit that I've enjoyed the BAU work but there was the challenge to move on and use those managerial skills to influence the future of not only the BAU but other departments as well."

"Yeah, there is more to life than just the work. I enjoyed the team I worked with at the CACU but the work was becoming all consuming. I was very successful there but it was taking a toll on my life outside the Bureau. I have friends who I was hardly seeing and I began to resent not having the time to go to concerts or even play my lute in the end. When Jo started talking about wanting to start a family, even before we left for England, it made me think about my own childhood and what I would want for my child. I have good memories of the things I did with my father before he left and I want to be there to do things with any child we should have, as well as being there to enjoy Jo's company."

"Yes, the BAU work can be all consuming but we did have our triumphs and you have been particularly successful with your time at the CACU. No one can say that we didn't leave our mark but the page has turned and we both now face new challenges…one for me being to protect the BAU budget as much as possible!"

Spencer grinned, "There will be people crying 'favouritism!'" he cautioned.

"True, but like the CACU, I can play the emotive card and know what I'm talking about because of the experience of heading the Unit. The promotion means that I will have more influence and I hope that I will be able to use my knowledge wisely to help my fellow agents."

"I'm sure that you will, Hotch, because you've always been a fair leader," Spencer replied evenly. The two friends smiled at one another; the page had indeed turned for both of them and new challenges lay ahead in both their respective careers and personal lives.

Ten hours later, Agent Aaron Hotchner had reported to the Director that Dr. Spencer Reid was very interested in the proposed senior consultant's position as long as he could also be included in some agents' psychological assessments. The Director smiled at Hotchner's report and heard within his own mind Max Pentall's voice accurately foretelling Reid's response to the Bureau's offer.

Aaron Hotchner was making his way towards his office at the Washington HQ when his cell phone buzzed. He looked at the display and saw that it was Hayley.

"Hi Hayley, I'll be home in about an hour," he said on answering.

"Oh, Aaron, Louise has gone into premature labour so Caroline has taken her into the hospital. Jack's going to stay with Nancy while I head off to join them…Will you come to the hospital as well?" the excited voice asked.

"Yes, no problem…I just hope everything is going to be OK with Louise and the baby," he replied quietly.

"Yeah…I've rung Farah to keep her in the loop.... See you soon, Bye!"

The connection was cut and Hotch felt an ice cold crushing apprehension take hold of his whole being. He just hoped and prayed that Louise was going to keep her promise.

End of Chapter 27.


	28. Chapter 28

**The Interregnum: Chapter 28**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Aaron Hotchner left the Washington Field Office as quickly as he could after collecting his overcoat and attaché case from his office. He scanned the street for an available taxi but couldn't see one so began the walk to the nearest taxi rank.

It was not a long ride to the hospital but Hotch was pre-occupied with his thoughts and was quite withdrawn in the back of the cab, so the driver gave up on friendly conversation. Jed was quite good at weighing up his passengers and was usually able to tell who would be the chatty ones and those who tended to be the opposite. He'd been doing the job for 15 years now and had his own regular clientele but this dignified man was not one of his regulars although he was surprised by the destination. When the man had approached his cab, Jed thought that he'd be heading to Georgetown not to a hospital in nearby Virginia. He didn't like to ask why he was going there but that didn't stop Jed's imagination working overtime with the possible scenarios.

Hotch was tense with the anticipation of the events he was going to find and how things might unfold over the coming few days. He sat with his attaché case across his knees and his hands clasped together on top. He stared at his hands and wondered what he would do if Louise did renege on the agreement. The law was on Louise's side if she chose to keep the baby but he hoped that the backlash of losing her family's support, and Caroline's own dose of emotional blackmail, would be strong enough for Louise to uphold the agreement. Hotch had also rung Farah as he walked along looking for a taxi and she said she would drop by later at the hospital to see how things were going. She had tried to re-assure him that the doctor involved knew that this was a surrogate baby so that was another added pressure on Louise to keep her word but it all depended on a woman who had experienced second thoughts before moving in with the oldest sister.

The taxi swung into the parking bay and Hotchner reached into his wallet and handed over a generous amount to the surprise of Jed.

"Keep the change," the passenger muttered as he turned briskly away and strode purposefully towards the automatic doors.

Jed stared at the bunch of notes; it was a very large tip. He put the money carefully away and wondered about his passenger. Jed had surmised that he was obviously a government type by his dress and where he'd picked up him up but he wasn't going to worry about it. The taxi driver was just grateful for the generous tip that was a very unexpected bonus.

The elevator took Hotch to the 9th floor and he turned left automatically remembering his visits to this floor when Jack had been born. His mind was flooded suddenly with good memories and he smiled to himself as he strode towards the reception desk to find out where Louise and her sisters were.

"I'll go and tell your wife that you've arrived sir," the duty nurse said and disappeared towards the corridor of delivery suites.

Aaron Hotchner felt that he was in a strangely detached position; he was in one sense the prospective father but he was also the intrusive male as far as Louise was concerned. Above all, he didn't feel he should even try to break into the complex world of sisterly politics whirling around the family at that moment.

He sat down on a comfortable seat and reached for a magazine off the small table nearby. It had been sometime since he'd read an edition of 'National Geographic' but he hoped he'd find something within its pages to distract him.

"Hi Aaron," Caroline said as she stood before him and was surprised that her brother-in-law had not looked up as she approached but then she noticed how tired he looked. Caroline knew that he'd been on a flying visit to London to escort home one of his injured agents who had been caught up in the London bombing incident at the end of last month.

The man guiltily started, "Oh sorry Caroline…How's things going?" he asked.

"Louise is almost 9 centimetres dilated so it won't be long now. Everything happened so quickly this evening. Louise had seemed fine then suddenly her waters broke and I knew I had to bring her in as fast as I could. The doctor says I did the right thing and they didn't even try to slow things down because she was dilating so quickly. The incubator is standing by literally, Aaron. I don't need to tell you that Hayley is worried but the doctor says that the baby is 33 weeks and the premature baby unit here has had good outcomes for babies of under 27 weeks. But of course it will mean an unexpected expense…Typical of Louise though isn't it…I know she can't be blamed for this but it's just so par for the course when it comes to how Louise's life goes," Caroline said with a lingering bitterness to her voice.

Aaron swallowed his mouth felt dry and his throat a little constricted. He didn't know what to say to his sister-in-law but Caroline didn't seem to expect a response because she began to speak again.

"Hayley got here about 15 minutes before you and she's been marvellously supportive towards Louise. I think this is all putting Louise off the motherhood experience. Louise doesn't do pain very well and she keeps demanding an epidural but the doctor isn't keen with a premature baby and has cautioned against it as things are speeding up well. She told Louise that a 33-week-old baby wouldn't be very big anyway so it wouldn't hurt that much. At the moment she's just getting by with the gas and air regime to take the edge off the pain but I can't see her ever repeating the experience!"

Aaron nodded but he noted the air of triumph about this experienced mother along with the note of superiority that she felt over her youngest sister. However, it was the total lack of sympathy over the pain of labour that shocked him. Aaron had always thought that the shared experience of the pain of childbirth united mothers throughout the world but he sensed no sympathy from Caroline towards her sister and that unsettled him. He didn't doubt that Caroline would carry out her threat if Louise decided to keep the baby but most of all he just felt totally out of his depth.

"Well, I'd better get back, I don't want to miss out on the proceedings now. Will keep you informed, Aaron, happy reading!" she joked as she rose without a backward glance and headed back to the room.

Aaron let out the held breath and with it he acknowledged the inner tension that was ruling his body at that moment. He felt it was worse than actually witnessing the birth of Jack because he was on the outside of an arrangement that had really been fixed up between Hayley and her sister before he was even consulted. He had been wrong footed all along in this and, although he had got Farah on board to help on the legal side, Aaron still felt out of his depth because he'd not been in control of the initial arrangement. Hotch tried to concentrate on the vibrant photographs of assorted insects in the Amazon rainforest to stop his worries taking over.

Farah Jeavons found Aaron Hotchner reading an article about the melting of the northern polar ice cap. She handed him a Starbucks coffee and received a grateful smile.

"I thought you would need it. The men often get 'corridor' duty when it's a surrogate birth, partly it's because the birth mother is fine with the woman but shy with the prospective father."

"Yeah…I didn't even suggest that I'd like to be there at the birth. The sisters seem to have it all under their control and I decided that, as the token male, I'd keep a low profile."

Farah grinned and sat down near him to drink her own coffee.

"Flowers?" Hotch asked staring at the bouquet of assorted colours and shapes that Farah had placed carefully across her lap.

"For after the birth for you and Hayley to give to the birth mother. I find that it's a simple gesture but it helps to erase the pain of labour and shows that you appreciate her efforts," Farah explained, "I picked them up on the way over here…nothing special but they will brighten up any hospital room."

"Thanks Farah…things have happened so unexpectantly that I don't think Hayley nor Caroline have considered such a thoughtful gesture."

"Premature births are an added strain for all concerned but she's over 28 weeks so the odds are in the little ones favour. Agreed on a name yet?"

"I think so but perhaps when we see her we'll change our minds and well…now I guess I don't want to say until I know she's safely arrived and is going to be OK."

Farah Jeavons nodded in understanding and decided to go down another road.

"You look tired, busy day?" she asked conversationally.

"Just got back from a flying visit to London. One of our agents was hurt in that train bomb in London and I went out to be part of his escort home."

"Oh boy, I read about that…Was it that agent who was involved with the Twins case and the Washington paedophile scandal?"

"Yes, Spencer was central to cracking both cases. He's a good profiler and, although he can't be an agent anymore, the Bureau doesn't want to lose his expertise…We want to keep him as a consultant back with the BAU." Hotch explained.

Farah nodded, "Is he going to accept that or does he want to leave the FBI for a total break from all that will remind him of his agent days?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Reid's interested in what's on the table and it's a good package. I would be his overall boss again but he would in fact be better paid as a consultant and be given quite a lot of responsibility to keep him interested. The Director wanted me to tell him about the offer as something to aim for while he's going through several months of re-habilitation," he explained and was grateful for Farah's company distracting him from the concerns surrounding the birth.

"She's just like Jack!" Hayley said in awe as she watched the paediatrician swiftly examine the new arrival before giving the nurse permission to quickly clean her before settling the tiny baby into the portable incubator. The baby squirmed and protested with a surprisingly strident cry but her rebellion at the sudden change in her environment was a good sign as far as those in the room were concerned.

"Have you agreed upon a name for Miss Hotchner?" Dr. Russe, the paediatrician, asked.

"Aaron and I thought Grace," replied Hayley who kept her eyes firmly locked onto the baby that she longed to take home.

"We'll keep her in the premature unit for a few days just to make sure that she gains weight, and there are no problems, but she appears quite a feisty individual. She's breathing on her own but the incubator will help for a few days until we're happy with the maturity of the lungs. We don't want her to get any chest infections at this stage and hopefully she'll have the warm summer months to grow strong before the autumn and winter set in with their usual bugs."

The obstetrician attended to Louise and supervised the elimination of the afterbirth from the womb. Louise felt light-headed and very drained of energy but she was relieved that the whole birth was now over. 'Never again,' she silently vowed to herself and wondered why women raved over the whole business of pregnancy and birth. Louise thought that it was far too over-rated now she had been along that road and at that moment she just wanted to be left alone to sleep. But she noticed that Caroline was still beside the bed.

"You've done very well. The baby looks good despite the light birth weight…just like Jack," she said with a smile but Louise found it hard to respond.

Louise had been feeling like a prisoner in a gilded cage for the past few weeks due to Caroline's eagle-eyed attentions watching her food intake and criticising her if she thought she was over doing the exercise. Louise just wanted to escape from her sister and to leave the hospital as soon as she could. She wanted to resume a more normal life style as quickly as possible and, above all, to join Ethan in Hong Kong.

Louise felt her left hand being gripped and looked up to find the radiant Hayley beside her.

"Oh thank you, Louise. The doctor thinks little Grace is doing well but they're going to take her down to the premature baby unit now. They'll do the usual scan for brain haemorrhages there but he thinks the signs are good."

Louise managed a weak smile, "Good, you'd better go with her then and start all that bonding that mother's are supposed to do," she replied in a detached voice.

Hayley felt stung by the tone but then thought it was probably Louise's defence mechanism springing into action to prevent her from feeling any closeness for the baby.

"Yeah, you're right. You get some sleep and we'll talk more tomorrow," Hayley said softly and turned to follow the incubator as her elder sister called after her…

"I'll go and tell Aaron so off you go with Grace."

Caroline then turned her attention to her youngest sibling.

"Just keep your promise, Louise, it should be fairly easy if you keep well away from the premature unit," Caroline whispered, "I'll go and tell Aaron now."

Louise was grateful to be left with the attending nurse who was now eager to make her feel more comfortable and to move her to own room to recover in over the next few days.

"Just let people pamper you," the nurse advised as she helped Louise to freshen up and change her clothing.

Louise let her chatter on without really taking much attention and thought about the luxury of a room without Caroline being able to spy on her.

Caroline told Aaron and Farah the good news and they all wandered off in the direction of the premature baby unit with the assurance that they could drop by Louise's room later with the flowers.

"Mr. Hotchner, I'm Dr. Russe the neo-natal paediatrician attending the birth of baby Grace. I've just completed a scan of the brain, we do it automatically with any baby entering this unit to check for brain haemorrhages, but everything appears to be good so far. She had a good cry at birth and disliked being cleaned up," he smiled, "It was good to see such a reaction because we like to think it shows a fighting spirit. Lovely little girl, and a good weight for 33 weeks so it looks good so far but I would prefer to keep her here for a few days at least to get her weight up and keep an eye on her breathing."

"Of course, we'll take your advice…May we see her?" Aaron Hotchner stated and his heart beat faster in anticipation of seeing the newcomer.

"I was hoping that you'd like to… this way…" the Doctor replied with a smile.

"You go ahead and we'll join you in a few minutes," said Farah and after he was out of earshot, "Sorry, but I think Aaron and Hayley could do with a few minutes alone together with Grace."

"Yes…I'm glad you suggested it but it was on the tip of my tongue too. I saw her birth so she's not so much a stranger to me," replied Caroline softly and she felt suddenly tired after the frantic few hours of activity.

The two women smiled at each other and decided to go into the nearby visitors room to discuss the finer points of the birth and Louise's attitude.

Dr. Russe showed Hotch into the unit. There were two rows of sturdy incubators with inhabitants, some of whom looked to be only frail scraps of life, with minute tubes and sensors all connected to blinking and bleeping machinery beside their special worlds. It was very warm and Hotch felt over dressed already although he'd only just arrived, but he concentrated on the seated form of his beloved wife as she looked with open love down towards the tiny form. Hayley heard his approach and looked up with the most radiant smile that reminded Hotch of the first time Hayley had seen Jack.

"Look, Aaron, she looks so like Jack," said Hayley and held out her hand to him.

Hotch couldn't stop the smile he gave in response and felt his heart melt as he saw her, all pink and in a minute diaper, just like a doll. She did indeed look like Jack, right down to the soft covering of fine black hair. Jack's hair had gradually lightened over the early weeks and changed to be strawberry blond, like Hayley, by the time he was 6 months old. Hotch wondered if this would also happen for Grace. Hotch squeezed his wife's hand, it was one of those rare occasions when he was unable to find the words to express his overwhelming feelings. Grace was beautiful and he felt his family was now complete.

Thirty minutes later, they all went along to Louise's assigned room and the Hotchners slipped in with the bouquet of flowers.

Louise lay in a room of dimmed lighting but she was not yet asleep.

"We just came to say thank you and to say that Grace seems to be doing fine so far," Aaron gently said. He felt surprised at the subdued appearance of the usually feisty Louise.

Louise eyed the flowers and weakly smiled, "Thanks for the bouquet. They'll cheer up this place as it seems very spartan doesn't it, but hopefully I'll soon be gone from here and back at my place."

"You need to rest, Louise, so make the most of this hospital stay. We'll come and see you tomorrow to discuss matters concerning Grace's registration." Hotch stated quietly aware that Louise looked very tired.

"There's a problem?" Louise asked but her brain felt sluggish and not ready to follow a long explanation.

"Farah says that a premature birth can slow up things. Usually in Virginia a baby has to be three days old to be put up for adoption but, in this case, Grace is being kept in hospital for a longer period than normal so this might hold up the court proceedings. But don't worry about it just now, you ought to try to get some rest and we'll get Farah to explain it all tomorrow." Hotch said gently.

Louise closed her eyes; she just wanted to be in her own bed, she wanted to be back in her own home, she wanted to be left alone.

The auxiliary slipped in with a vase after the Hotchners came out of the room. She had heard from the nurses' station that the younger sister had acted as a surrogate for this couple and she thought that the most generous act that one sister could do for another.

The next two days passed quickly for Louise. The Hotchners and Caroline seemed wrapped up in Grace meanwhile Louise was pampered by the medical staff who praised her unselfish behaviour. Louise had played along with the lie because it was best for all concerned to keep up the pretense that the world was so eager to believe and if she told the truth it would only do harm for her own future. However, two days after the birth her hormones were running out of control and Louise hated the body that was now beyond recognition. Her breasts were badly swollen and leaking milk but above all they were painful because of the excess of milk production. She wanted the doctor to prescribe something to get rid of the milk; she wasn't a human cow and didn't intend to be one either.

The doctor patiently explained that medical opinion was divided on the use of drugs to suppress the milk production and it was felt that a mother's recovery was speedier if the milk was allowed to dry up naturally.

"And how long have I got to put up with this pain and mess," she asked in disgust at her situation.

"Two to three days and then the breasts gradually stop producing milk because it's not being used. If you start expressing the milk for relief it will be longer because the body will think you are feeding."

"Christ can't you give me something at least for the pain?"

"A simple analgesic should help," Dr. Mellors soothed and was even more reluctant to grant her wishes. Suppressants would affect the patient's hormone balance even more and this woman was having hormonal swings as it was without making matters worse.

Two pills and two hours later, they were beginning to have some effect but she was being snappy at every one. The nurses at the reception desk were advising any visitors that she was a little emotional today.

Caroline had popped in to see Louise and left after only a few minutes and rang Hayley to warn her against any visit because she felt it would only serve to antagonise Louise in her present mood. Louise was left on her own to brood and during the next 24 hours her emotions were in total flux. She began to question her decisions and tried to convince herself that Ethan would accept the baby because it was half her baby and he'd just adapt like other men did when they became fathers.

Farah Jeavons arrived in the early afternoon and enquired after Louise.

"She's a bit emotional today, the hormones are raging away and producing a lot of milk so she's pretty uncomfortable but she'll feel so different in a few days. The trouble is patients always expect the 'quick fix' to get rid of the excess milk but, as the medical staff have explained, it can often prolong the emotional swings," the duty nurse quietly informed the lawyer.

"Yes, I do understand, I've acted in several surrogate cases and perhaps I can re-assure Louise if you think that she is up to visitors," Farah replied softly and hoped that her sensitive approach would smooth things for the family.

Farah slipped into Louise's room and found her reading a copy of the Washington Post.

"Hello Louise, how are you feeling this afternoon?" she asked quietly giving the patient her full attention as she sat down on the visitor chair placed beside the bed.

"Uncomfortable! No one prepared me for the pain of swollen and extended breasts leaking useless milk. I've been warned not to express any because that will only lead to lots more being produced. God Farah, I can't understand why women rave about motherhood but I can understand now the desire to breast feed in order to get rid of all of this!" Louise said in an agitated way and gestured at her swollen breasts. Dark patches on her nightdress revealed the extent of leaked milk.

"I've gone through numerous bra pads that are supposed to soak up the leaking mess!" she bitterly complained.

Farah felt genuinely sorry for the woman but she had upset Hayley when she had shown a change of mind a few months ago. The lawyer knew that these next few days were a dangerous time for a surrogate to suddenly feel very maternal.

"Fortunately this stage soon passes and once you're over the tiredness of labour you'll be able to go home," Farah said watching the woman carefully for signs of weakening resolve.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to finally get back to my own place. I've had enough of my sisters to last a life time," she replied with a cold edge to her voice.

"It was very understandable at the time," Farah gently answered and got a sharp look back.

"Look that baby is mine. I can refuse to sign her over for Hayley to adopt and there would be nothing…absolutely nothing that Aaron, or the saintly Hayley, could do about it!" she spat.

Farah calmly sat observing the woman who was very capable of destroying many people's lives if she decided to follow that path.

"Yes, you could do that Louise," Farah quietly conceded, "But you would also have to live with the consequences of such an action. However, you should remember that it was you that didn't want this baby, who didn't want an abortion and you who offered the baby to your sister. It was a pretense that conveniently covered up your sexual dalliance. Meanwhile, it put you in a 'saintly' position because you were seen as putting your own life on hold to be a surrogate for your sister."

Louise pouted and stared hard at this woman who was reminding her of her actions.

"I don't care what people think…I could take the baby and bring her up myself," she snapped defiantly.

"Could you Louise?" Farah asked gently, "Think carefully…Your hormones are talking at the moment and any mother will tell you that the first few days following the birth can be an emotional roller coaster."

"Don't you dare start lecturing me…You're a friend of Aaron's so you have your clients' interests to take care of!" Louise challenged.

"Actually, Louise, I have the welfare of the baby to consider first and foremost. That is why I make sure that any surrogate arrangement that I'm involved with is scrupulously fair to the surrogate mother. Consequently, I make sure that the surrogate is financially compensated for any loss of earnings she might incur and that she also has excellent medical care, both during the pregnancy and immediately after the birth. But I also consider the appropriateness of the prospective parents, and if I don't like them, then I don't usually take the case. You see I have a conscience, that I have to live with, so if I'm not happy with the surrogate arrangement then I will not act for the parties involved," Farah patiently explained and refused to feel intimidated by Louise's present mood.

Louise breathed hard; this woman was being annoying at the moment. "I could change my mind despite signing that agreement because the law is on my side," she leaned back on her pillows as she triumphantly replied knowing that this was her ultimate card.

"Like I said before …you could and the law is on your side, but you might find that your family and friends are not. Also, you told me on several occasions that you were not the maternal type and I believed you. At the moment your post birth hormones are controlling you but you really would not be a good mother." Farah clearly and carefully stated.

"How dare you! What makes you think that I would not be a good mother?" the irate Louise flared.

Farah sighed but carefully kept her voice sounding calm.

"Louise you enjoy being able to lead a sporty life style and who would look after Grace while you went off skiing for a few days or sailing and then there is all that rock climbing that you and Ethan enjoy? We mustn't forget Ethan…How would he react if you suddenly told him that you were keeping the baby. Ethan has believed the surrogate story that you've told him but would he still let you be part of his life if he knew the truth? Would he want to play Daddy? From what you told me earlier Ethan has no interest in having children and enjoys having a childless existence. I recall you saying that Ethan often remarked that his friends with children seem to be tied to a world that revolves round little tyrants…You did use that phrase didn't you? 'Little tyrants' it's not the attitude of a tolerant man and he teaches older students, not young ones, so that also points to someone who is not particularly interested in the very young.

As a single parent you might find good day care but reliable baby sitters are hard to find. Good childcare is not cheap and the expense would cut into your social life. Your family are hardly going to help you if you reneged on this deal that you suggested in the first place to cover up your own infidelity," Farah reminded her.

Louise felt as if a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown at her. She wanted to shriek that none of this was true but Louise knew that she couldn't lie to herself. She had got herself into this mess and she really just wanted to forget the whole business but there was this inner voice that kept suggesting an alternative to all these arrangements.

"Don't any of you understand, I've not been in control of my life for 8 months. I want my life back…the one where I can do what I want and when I want," she stubbornly stated and Farah fleetingly thought that she sounded like a teenager having a tantrum because they were not getting their own way.

"But if you keep Grace that is really the last thing that you will have. Every parent will tell you, and especially a mother, that once you have a child then there is another person to consider in your life. That consideration is not just for an hour, or a day, but for many years to come and that caring doesn't really stop even when that child leaves home as an adult," Farah calmly countered this spoilt and hormone driven woman.

Louise stared with blazing eyes; there was truth in her argument but was any one listening to her needs. Then her world just shattered from the inside and she began to cry, the sobbing took over the whole of her body and she just couldn't stop the shaking and feeling of dissolving before this lawyer.

Farah was not a cruel person and although her words may have been grounded in the truth, and had hurt, she now reached out to comfort this unhappy woman. Farah Jeavons sat on the bed and hugged Louise so that she knew that she was not alone on this floor, where other women were celebrating becoming mothers. Louise had made a mess of the past year but Farah was sure that she could help to show this woman that a lot of good could come out of a generous act.

Louise stayed at the hospital for a week following the birth. Everyday Hayley made a point of visiting her younger sister although she was always apprehensive about her moods. Louise wasn't very responsive towards Hayley or Caroline and just wanted them to leave her alone. Hayley had confessed to Farah that she would not feel completely at ease until Grace was legally a Hotchner. Farah also came each evening to talk to Louise and was pleased that her hormones settled down with the easing of the milk production. After 6 days her breasts felt more normal and considerably less tender than earlier.

Aaron Hotchner had tried to stay in the background and out of Louise's way because Farah thought that he might irritate matters where his sister-in-law was concerned. He conveniently used the pressures of work to keep his visits just for Grace and then usually in the evening.

Jack had already seen his little sister and he was fascinated by her size. He kept telling the neighbours and friends that Grace was like a doll and she had a special bed called 'an innobator'. The nursing staff were very patient with the siblings of the premature babies and tried to explain simply about the machinery and encouraged a sibling to touch their baby so as not to be afraid of the tiny being.

Both the Hotchners were reluctant to speak to each other about the possibility of Louise backing out of the adoption plan. Farah listened patiently to their individual and understandable fears. Farah Jeavons hoped that Louise had passed through that phase, although the lawyer also felt a flutter of apprehension, and longed for the adoption to go through without a hitch.

Meanwhile, Grace Hotchner was oblivious to all of these concerns. She gained weight and the staff seemed very pleased with her progress, especially as further tests showed that she was developing normally and, for that premature unit, baby Hotchner was a success. Hayley had marvelled at her tiny size but the staff had still encouraged her to hold her and to overcome the natural fear of the machinery. Hotch also felt clumsy with this new member of the human race. He thought his hands resembled a giants compared with her delicate little hand that gripped fiercely around his enormous little finger. She stared opened eyed at him and he softly spoke to her about his day at work and how she reminded him of his early days with Jack. He told her about her big brother and how he had helped to chose the paper for her nursery and the pictures he had painted for her. But by the time she was a week old, Aaron Hotchner knew that this baby was his precious daughter and god help Louise if she changed her mind. He had e-mailed friends after getting home very late on the evening of her birth and congratulation emails and cards, together with presents, were arriving daily to celebrate the birth of their daughter.

Hayley had been very touched by the arrival of a package from the Reids when Grace was 4 days old. It contained a selection of tiny 'premmie' clothes and a hand painted A4 sized card, by 'JEM', wishing them all much happiness. The design of the card was a beautiful tortoiseshell kitten curled up beside a large teddy bear. Hayley immediately announced that she was going to have it framed so it could be hung in the nursery.

Hotch sent a 'thank you' e-mail and hoped that Spencer had settled into the latest hospital regime and apologised for not visiting him but the early arrival of Grace had thrown all his plans, for the next few weeks, out of the window. He felt that considering all that had happened to the Reids recently that this gift was particularly unexpected and thoughtful. Hotch was surprised to receive a reply to his 'thank you' almost immediately.

" Hospital more comfortable than the London one. As you can see I even have access to a computer and the Internet. Been to physio today and met some fellow amputees. Everyone here is very supportive but it was good to have Arthur arrive without warning and, soon after, Margaret. I just leaned back and let the two of them talk.

Don't worry about visiting here because Grace, Hayley and Jack must come first on your off duty time list, especially at the moment, and there will be plenty of time later!

Jo and I look forward to eventually meeting little Grace and hope everything goes smoothly at the Family Court.

Regards, Spencer."

Hotch smiled to himself, obviously Max's people were going to keep an eye on the patient and fellow psych. He would be seeing Max himself at the end of the week at a meeting concerning the staffing for the enlarged BAU. But, as usual, Reid had hit the nail on the head; the Family Court hearing for the formal adoption would have to be faced and neither he nor Hayley were talking about their obvious fears.

Grace continued to make good progress and was gaining weight steadily, which satisfied the medical staff. She also had captured the hearts of all those who visited her. Hotch couldn't believe that this tiny individual, who was not of his genes, could have captured his protective and nurturing instincts in the same way as his own son. He was relieved that Louise had shown no interest in the baby since her birth. Farah told them not to be offended and explained that she had witnessed this detachment before in other clients and was probably Louise's mechanism for coping with the events and the future adoption hearing. The common sense part of Hotch agreed with the lawyer, but there was still a tiny voice of doubt within him that would not rest until Grace was truly a Hotchner and Louise was out of the country

Farah had prepared the papers and taken them for Louise's signature on the last day of her hospital confinement. The lawyer had reported to the Hotchners that there had been no problem and Louise seemed more interested in escaping back to her own home, which she planned to rent out while she joined Ethan in Hong Kong. Farah had filed the papers the same day and they had a court hearing set for 10 days hence when Grace would be 17 days old.

Hotch knew the procedure involved because he had checked upon the requirements for the state of Virginia soon after Louise's proposal. In this state a baby could be placed for adoption when three days old. Once the adoption papers were signed, there was still a period of grace for the mother who could ask for the child to be returned any time during the next 10 days. The very fact that Grace had been a little premature had slowed up the process for the Hotchners. Farah was careful to make sure that the baby was viable and that both Louise and the Hotchners still wanted to go through with the arrangement. It had been known for a birth mother to have second thoughts and the state laws were compassionate enough to recognise this change of heart, even if the eagerly awaiting adoptive parents were going to face a huge disappointment.

Hotch was enormously grateful for the care and attention that Farah had given to them all over this case. He knew that she visited Louise every day, even if Louise didn't particularly want to see her sisters or brother-in-law. Louise had also bluntly told Hayley that she didn't want her visiting her before she left the States because she had a lot to do between now and her departure date.

"Do you think she'll renege?" Hotch had asked Farah on the day Louise left the hospital.

"I don't like to think she will. Louise has been very emotional these last few days but I believe that was the hormones talking and nothing to do with common sense practicalities. I think Louise will go through with the adoption because deep down she does love Ethan and enjoys the life-style that they have had together. It is very convenient for all parties that he now lives and works well away and this will help her let go of any feelings she might have towards the baby. Although, I must admit, I don't feel, and never have felt, that Louise is in anyway maternal. If she reneges on the deal then she will live to regret it and the poor child will be the one who suffers most," answered Farah thoughtfully.

"Well she has now returned home but she didn't want any of the family to help and just ordered a taxi," stated Hotch who was concerned about the younger woman even if she had been, and still was, his least favourite sister-in-law.

"It was her choice, Hotch. She is distancing herself ready for the adoption procedure that will soon come round. Honestly, 10 days will just disappear and you may even have Grace home by then because the staff are so pleased with her. The families usually find the most difficult time is the 10 days after the signing of the papers because they are truly in limbo…They have the signed adoption papers but the birth mother can always demand the child back. I hate to say it but days 8 to 10 are the worse and it's only on day 11 that the new family begins to really enjoy their new member."

"Hayley already thinks of her as ours," Hotch softly confessed.

"I know and Louise is ruthless enough to break her sister's heart," replied Farah knowing that Hotch had been troubled by the whole arrangement. It was not that he didn't want to adopt and had always been prepared to do so, ironically, it had been Hayley who always had a psychological barrier against adoption. However, because this was her sister's baby then Hayley felt giving this child a loving home was the most natural response in the world to her sister's unwanted and definitely unplanned pregnancy. But Farah also sensed that Aaron Hotchner was fooling himself if he didn't feel attached to Grace already and would be profoundly affected, like Hayley, should the adoption fall through.

"Try not to worry, Hotch, I've been trying very hard to keep up with Louise's moods and although she may be spiteful in some way during the adoption period, I do think that ultimately she will go and join Ethan alone. I think Caroline would make her life very uncomfortable if she decides to keep Grace and really where would she go? She has no teaching position now and she would get no family help and certainly the father has had nothing to do with her…It was a one night stand and she's reaping the consequences. I just hope that she has learnt her lesson and never cheats on Ethan ever again," said Farah wondering if she had always been faithful to the boyfriend.

The ten days did indeed pass very quickly and on the day before the family court hearing, the hospital allowed baby Grace home. Jack was particularly proud of this homecoming and chose the dress his sister was to wear. He liked the pale lemon one with its embroidered white flowers around the neckline and hem. He proudly led the way from the car as Hotch carried her baby car seat carefully. The radiant Hayley beamed at the neighbours who all seemed eager to welcome the newcomer to their little community.

The Hotchners had been apprehensive about the Family Court appearance the next day but Louise turned up in good time looking smart and almost back to her normal weight. Hayley whispered to Aaron that she hoped that Louise had been sensible about her food intake alongside the exercise. However, Louise had always been a fit woman and she had been careful about her weight gain during the pregnancy so any excess was quickly dealt with. Aaron smiled indulgently at his wife. It had taken Hayley 9 months to regain her pre-pregnancy weight, but he had loved her for her determination to breast feed and to gently exercise herself back into her wardrobe of clothes.

Judge Ellen Ballard had the look of a kindly, rounded grandmother with her naturally short curly hair, that was now pure white, but she also had very dark grey eyes that seemed extraordinary large behind her spectacle lenses. She did not hurry the proceedings in her court and liked to think that she dealt with all the parties involved in a fair manner. Consequently, she was already running 40 minutes late before they got to the Hotchners turn. Louise didn't seem to want to meet their eyes and didn't even ask after Grace, who had been left in the care of Caroline for these proceedings. It took only a few minutes for the parties to confirm that they were all still in agreement with the arrangement drawn up by Farah Jeavons.

Judge Ballard carefully explained Louise's rights over the coming days.

"The state of Virginia does allow the birth mother to change her mind over the next 10 days from this day. If you do change you mind, you have only to come to this court and speak to the Clerk, whose office is just by the elevator on this floor. Then arrangements would be immediately put into place to collect baby Grace and she would then be given into your care. Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner, I must clearly state that this change of mind is the natural mother's right. However, after the tenth day then the adoption, now granted by this court, is valid and the birth mother will have no rights towards the baby she has given into your care for the rest of her life. Is that understood by all parties?" the judge asked solemnly of the three adults before her.

They each gave a positive reply and she signed the document before her.

"I wish you all and above all, baby Grace, a happy and prosperous future," she said with a warm smile and the Hotchners automatically smiled back at her genuine sentiments. But the judge noted the muted ghost of a smile that touched the lips of the birth mother. Louise then turned and began to stride away from the courtroom.

Farah Jeavons cast Hotch a warning glance that he read as meaning, 'leave this to me.' Hayley had reached for Aaron's hand and they walked silently out of the court -room watching the disappearing figure of their lawyer.

"Oh God, Aaron, I should be feeling so happy but I just feel sick with worry," Hayley whispered.

Hotch squeezed his wife's hand and spoke re-assuring words, "Farah is experienced in these matters and she thinks that Louise will go through with the adoption," he softly replied but Hayley knew her husband and sensed a lurking doubt.

"But…?" Hayley pressed and Hotch sighed, they had known each other since High School.

"Farah considers that Louise might try something spiteful…just to lash out because she has been cornered into this situation and she hates herself for it."

"Oh yeah, that would be just like my little sister. Farah has really got the measure of her," Hayley replied and felt her stomach tighten in apprehension.

The next nine days passed well with establishing a routine at home for Grace and her big brother. Jack was fascinated by his baby sister and very attentive if she cried. He would talk to her when she was awake and tell her about each of the toys he brought to carefully show her. Hayley smiled at the behaviour, little Grace peered at him but of course she was too young to focus on the details or to understand the descriptions that Jack was spouting forth. Hotch was delighted to hear his sons vocabulary that seemed to be widening by the day.

The 9th day was a Sunday, and in the morning the Hotchners had enjoyed a pleasant and lazy time around the house and garden and were thinking of taking the children for a walk to a nearby park after lunch. The dishwasher was turned on to deal with the lunch crockery and place settings when the doorbell sounded.

"Louise…Good to see you, come on in," Hotch invited trying to sound upbeat but his senses were suddenly alert as to why his sister-in-law had come.

"Auntie Louise!" Jack enthusiastically called on seeing her and Hotch caught a glimpse of Hayley's worried expression before she flashed a smile towards her sister.

"Oh Louise, you should have said you were coming this way, you could have come for lunch…" she smoothly began.

"Oh …I decided that it was a nice day for a drive and then I thought why not visit my sister before I leave for Hong Kong," Louise replied but Hotch was alert to the teasing sound in her voice. Hotch thought that there was something rather predatory about Louise this afternoon and her manner was one of a cat cruelly playing with its captured prey.

"Well you know that you're always welcome, Louise," Hayley placated sensing something of her sister's mood. Jack fell quiet and stood carefully watching the adults in the large kitchen.

"Would you like to see Grace, she's in her pram just by the kitchen door …We were thinking of going for a walk, perhaps you'd like to join us?" Hayley invited trying to sound friendly but the emotional temperature of the room was dropping by the second.

"No, I don't think I'd like to walk out with you all," Louise replied in a cold dismissive tone. Hayley flashed Aaron a look and then glanced at her son.

"Come along Jack, Auntie Louise doesn't want to go on a walk with us but we can take Grace." Hotch stated and walked towards Jack with his hand already out to take his son with him. But as the father and son reached the kitchen door Louise spoke.

"I would like to see her before you go," she commanded and Hotch felt his own hackles rising but he decided that he was not going to provoke this woman.

"Of course, come along then…she's really so different in such a short time and what…26 days old now and she's so much bigger…." Hayley replied enthusiastically and turned and led the way to the baby's pram outside.

Louise followed and peered down unemotionally at the sleeping child. She had to know and now she could see that Grace bore no resemblance to her father at all and was just like Jack at the same age. It was just as Hayley had prattled on about after this child's birth. But Louise felt nothing for this baby although she sensed the adoration of her by the three other people who had joined her to peer at Grace. Louise thought bitterly that she hadn't even been consulted on the name despite being the birth mother but then what would she have called her anyway? Her mood swung again and she turned to watch Jack gently place a small, soft pink and whited striped cotton cat toy a little closer to the sleeping form.

Jack looked up at his aunt and smiled, "Grace is beautiful," he stated in the artless fashion of a young child.

Louise stared at her nephew and the boy's smile faltered and he retreated from her and cast a glance towards his father who was now stony faced.

"Louise," Hotch quietly warned and Hayley felt it was best not to have an argument before Jack.

"Aaron…Why don't you and Jack take Grace to the park like you planned?" Hayley suggested trying to smooth over the strained atmosphere.

"What a good idea," he replied with a quiet intensity that Hayley rarely heard but knew it meant trouble, "Come along, Jack, lets get going and then you might have time to play on the slide and swings before Grace wants her next feed."

The man reached for the pram and father and son disappeared out of the back garden.

Hayley breathed hard and silently counted to 20, she felt very annoyed at her sister's attitude towards Jack.

Louise turned and innocently asked, "What's wrong?"

Hayley knew that Louise was toying with her and was not going to play.

"Jack was confused by your behaviour, Louise. Every one else who has come recently have brought the baby a little gift and a token something for the big brother too …But you, his aunt, comes totally unannounced and demanding to see Grace on your terms…" Hayley answered in a very controlled way.

Louise smiled, "Hayley I think you are being a little over-sensitive, it is after all my right to see Grace as she is still my daughter until the full 10 days are up."

Hayley felt her mind swiftly clear itself of trivia. She was suddenly very alert and focussed, all her old training as a legal secretary rose from the depths of her past.

She stared at her younger sister calmly for a few minutes, letting her gaze sweep over the smart dove grey pant suit and down to soft leather grey loafers specially chosen to co-ordinate with the outfit. Hayley's gaze then swept back up again to the immaculate make up and no-nonsense short hair cut. Louise was a stunning woman with a good figure and usually highly self confident but this unusual coldly studied scrutiny by Hayley was unexpected and Hayley wanted it to be. Hayley smiled when she saw a slight indication of unease flash across Louise's eyes. It satisfied Mrs. Hotchner that she had unsettled this manipulative woman but she had to play her cards right now and show that it was she who had the winning hand.

"Now lets get this clear, Louise, you have had the upper hand all along so far but if you think I'm going to let you come here and upset my son and play your silly little games with Aaron and I then you'd better listen carefully….

You got pregnant …you were unfaithful to a man who has always trusted you. So how many other one nightstands have you had when Ethan was away? No don't bother to lie…You were spoilt as a child and you have continued to be spoilt as an adult…You've always had things go your way …But then this…an unplanned pregnancy. You behaved like a silly teenager. Did you think that it couldn't possibly be happening to you? I bet you even tried to ignore all the early symptoms until the morning sickness didn't go away and your body shape began to betray your condition. You were too scared to have an abortion because that meant having to admit that you'd made a mistake in your well ordered life. You need to feel in control of every aspect of your dealings with people and life generally but in this you weren't even completely in control of your body…All those mood swings, the weight gain and those baggy clothes you had to wear…Poor you!" Hayley mocked but her quiet voice echoed around the kitchen with icy contempt.

"But it was you who came here knowing my history of miscarriages…You came hoping that Aaron wouldn't be home and you told me your sob story and how we could cover up for your behaviour by lying about a surrogate pregnancy. Well don't think that you can totally get away with that scenario, one that your have enjoyed reaping the praise of outsiders for your caring sisterly act, because of the pretense we have played into. Aaron wasn't happy about it but he played along because he loves me. One day Grace will want to see her birth certificate and then she'll probably ask questions and both Aaron and I are prepared to tell her the truth," stated Hayley not daring to make any move closer to the younger woman.

Hayley was surprised at her own apparently calm sounding voice because inside she felt her anger rising. She felt that if Louise baited her any more this afternoon that she would probably lash out at her in reaction to the emotions that were beginning to whirl around and gather speed within her. She had never felt so angry but it was a cold anger and deep down that frightened Hayley all the more because it was so intense.

Louise had never seen her middle sister in this mood; she had always considered Hayley the pushover of the two and definitely in Caroline's shadow.

"You wouldn't! What have you to gain by telling her the truth?" Louise replied trying to judge Hayley's present mood while trying to also detect any weakness in her sister's newly forged armour.

"Absolutely nothing…You don't understand do you? Aaron and I agreed, soon after the arrangement was drawn up by Farah Jeavons, that Grace would be told the truth if she asked when she was older. It is her right to know the truth and, by knowing the truth, she will know how much we love her and how you never wanted her because she's the result of infidelity. Look at the pair of you… the biological father had the same lack of mores as her real mother. So don't even think about going to that court and reclaiming her at the last moment because I swear we'll never forgive you because you'll break Jack's heart and I'll not have you do that to my son," Hayley warned.

Hayley's voice continued to be quiet but the intensity of the cold tone frightened Louise. This was a sister she did not know and she couldn't anticipate what else Hayley might do. Louise stared speechless and saw a stranger standing before her and one she felt was very capable of destroying any future she might have with Ethan.

Hayley kept up her hard stare and noted with some triumph that it was Louise that couldn't meet her gaze and dropped her eyes to study the kitchen floor. She let her words have time to sink into this egotistical woman's memory and knew that this time she was totally in control of the situation. Louise had entered into a contract with her sister but it would have been better to have gone away and had a secret pregnancy and then given the child up for adoption to strangers. As it was, all her actions had created a situation that could lead to a scenario where Ethan might eventually find out the truth from an adult Grace, if she chose to confront her birth mother in the future.

Louise felt unsteady and reached for the nearest chair. Hayley watched with a dispassionate stare because she had seen her little sister turn on the 'dramatics' before over the years to get her own way or to make people see her in a good light.

Louise fought for her own composure before finally looking up to see Hayley still standing in the same spot and looking serenely calm.

"Promise me that neither of you will tell Grace the truth," Louise pleaded softly, hoping that her less confrontational tone would placate her older sister.

"I will do no such thing. On Grace's original birth certificate the father's name is absent, while her replacement clearly states that she is adopted. Any child would ask questions and Aaron and I are not people who would lie to our daughter," Louise said firmly and watched as the other woman squirmed in the chair.

"I could always …" began Louise with a final bravado.

"I don't think that is wise, Louise. It's far better for you to follow your original plan. You're too selfish to be a good mother and having a child in tow would cramp your life style…and remember, Ethan wouldn't accept another man's bastard."

Louise flinched; this was all going wrong. An inner voice protested telling her to regain the upper hand and hurt Hayley by saying that she was going to take the baby back. But Louise knew that she hadn't a clue about how to cope as a mother and had never wanted a child. She wanted to be with Ethan and enjoy exploring Hong Kong and China.

"I'd better go," she suddenly said rising from the chair.

"Yes, that would probably be the best move. Aaron will be back soon with the children," Hayley calmly replied and was pleased to see a very subdued sister to the door.

"Have a safe journey and our love to Ethan," Hayley calmly added as she opened the door.

Louise didn't reply or glance back but walked quickly to her car. She could feel Hayley's eyes still on her as she started the engine and reversed out of the drive. All she now wanted to do was to get home and call Ethan to make sure that he would be meeting her off her flight.

Hayley stood feeling ten foot tall. She knew that she would never see Louise again but that did not disturb her because Louise had always been a bitch and not the sort of person she particularly wanted around her children while they were growing up.

Meanwhile, Hotch had tried to take Jack's mind off the sudden arrival of his aunt. He was obviously perplexed by her behaviour towards him, Grace and his mother.

"Daddy…" he quietly asked as he carefully pushed his sister towards the small park, with his father close enough to offer a guiding hand, or to take over if need be.

"Yes, Jack" replied Hotch innocently although he was bracing himself for a question about Louise.

"I don't think Auntie Louise likes Grace," he pronounced, "And Mommy didn't like it…and I don't like it."

"Oh I think that perhaps Auntie Louise is a bit tired. She's been busy with all the packing because she's flying to Hong Kong tomorrow evening to be with Uncle Ethan," Hotch smoothly answered and wondered how Hayley was coping with the difficult and unexpected guest.

"Auntie Louise didn't say a proper hello to Grace and every one has done that," he challenged. Hotch thought carefully reminding himself to never under estimate his 4 year old son.

"I shouldn't worry about it Jack, it will all be all right by the time we get back. Look there's no one on the slide…Let me take over pushing Grace," the man added and was grateful that his diverting tactics worked as he watched his son gleefully run towards the smaller slide.

As he watched Jack clamber up the steps on sturdy legs and happily slide down, Hotch was concerned about the situation he had left back at home. He was well aware that Louise could be very spiteful if she was not getting her own way. Caroline had more than once muttered darkly about being ashamed to have a first class bitch as her sister. Caroline was the naturally assertive one but he also knew that his Hayley could be quietly determined about keeping her sense of personal space and a happy family home. The moving around, that was very normal in the early years of a FBI agent's career, had been at first challenging for his wife. However, Hayley had adjusted and learnt to use the wives network and to keep up her own interests and career in the early years. By the time he was back at the BAU, Jack had been on the way and her life then revolved more around Jack's world and needs. Hotch personally thought that getting Hayley away from her family had made her realise just how strong she was and that she could cope without them being close by. He had always appreciated the quiet, stable and gently humorous woman that he loved. Hayley was maternal and, for the most part, she had a fair and even temperament that was at the core of her personality. His work sometimes tested this to the limits but Hayley was the very anchor that Hotch needed in his life to cope with the FBI work.

Jack enjoyed being pushed on the swings while Grace remained sleeping close by. Hotch was relieved that Jack seemed to have forgotten about Louise's behaviour and they chatted about the things they could see in the park and Jack's desire to go once more to the Washington Zoo. The father chatted away but one part of the man's mind kept dwelling on the situation he had left at the house. He even considered how Hayley would react if Louise declared that she was going to take Grace. Hotch went through various scenarios, all of which were well-worn paths in his mind for many months. His initial action would be to inform Farah but he knew that the law would be on Louise's side during this strange period of grace… 'Grace,' he mused at the choice of word… 'so ironic that it was the name that they had all agreed upon as a family. No one else had been given that name in living memory for either side of the family and Jack had thought it just right.' Hotch smiled to himself as he pushed the swing with a steady rhythm.

He thought once more about the fact that they did have his service gun and an extra one, that he wore in an ankle holster, that were both safely kept in a gun safe when he was off duty. However, he was aware that Hayley knew the gun safe's combination and was a good shot, because he had taught her himself, and that in an emergency he was sure Hayley would shoot to defend herself or her immediate family. Furthermore, Hotch knew that Hayley was determined to have Grace as her child from that very first evening he had come home to find that Louise had planted the idea in her sister's head. It would be cruel for Louise to go back upon the arrangements that had been carefully put into place but this was a dangerous time for a birth mother. Hotch kept telling himself that Hayley wouldn't threaten her sister with a gun…or would she because she was so desperate to have Grace now after all the emotional preparation that she had put into her sister's pregnancy.

But Hotch's memory kept returning to that evening when he had returned home to find the three sisters together. He had sneaked in to overhear Caroline take control of the situation and threaten Louise with exposing Louise's lies to Ethan because she was about the break the promise she had given to them. Hayley had called Caroline for help and perhaps she would do so again. He glanced at his watch and decided that it would be best to return.

Jack again took charge of the pram and they made their careful way back. Hotch immediately saw that Louise's car had gone and hoped that this was a good sign but there was also no sign of Caroline's vehicle. Hotch prayed that his wife had handled the situation well and that Louise had not left intent on going back to the court tomorrow on the last possible day.

As they turned into the drive, the front door opened and Hayley appeared smiling and looking radiant. Hotch instantly relaxed, whatever had happened had left Hayley feeling happy so perhaps all would be well after all.

"Auntie Louise gone?" Jack asked immediately.

"Yes, she had to get back to finish her packing," Hayley assured her son and then stared at Hotch and gave him a slight nod. Hotch noted the look of triumph in her eyes but knew he would have to wait a few more hours before he got to hear the whole story.

Hotch manoeuvred the pram into the house and then carefully lifted the precious little girl out. Jack grinned and Hotch sensed the settled happy atmosphere of his home wrap around them. Hotch's world felt complete at that moment and he looked up to find Hayley smiling warmly back at him,

"We're blessed with two beautiful children, aren't we?"

"Yes," agreed Hotch who was relieved that there was no smell of gunpowder when he entered the house.

End of Chapter 28


	29. Chapter 29

**The Interregnum: Chapter29 **

**By Helena Fallon Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

"They're here!" Jack yelled as he turned from the entrance hall window to inform his parents of the arrival of their Sunday guests.

Hotch strode towards door with Jack at his heels eager to greet the new arrivals.

"Hello Jack!" Jo called as she closed her driver's door and looked up to return the grins she was receiving from the doorway. She had a shiny gold and silver carrier bag in her hand and Jack looked hopefully towards it.

"Well now Jack are you going to introduce Spencer to your baby sister," she prompted.

Jack straightened up as if the responsibility of being a big brother automatically made him grow another inch taller.

"Yes…but Spencer is a bit slow today," he replied watching for the man to appear.

Spencer took a little longer to manoeuvre out of the Lexus but he stood upright and shut his door and began to walk slowly after his wife. He had a bunch of scented stocks in his left hand and grinned at hearing his name.

"I'm a little slower these days, Jack, but I'm finally here," Spencer cheerfully said to the boy and presented the flowers to the beaming Hayley, " We couldn't resist bringing them, they're from our garden," he confessed.

"Hayley buried her head in the perfume, "Thank you...Mmm lovely and you can never find these in a florists when you want them. You're very lucky with that garden," she replied.

"Nothing we did, it just came with the house," said the man with an easy smile but he had also enjoyed choosing them that morning. The garden was something that he had not imagined he would enjoy but it came with the house that he and Jo had both liked the moment they walked over the threshold.

"Good to see you walking without the stick," whispered Hotch.

"Yeah, I try to now, but it's the end of the day when my leg begins to ache and then I still sometimes lean on my stick. I'm trying to break the habit though and the jogging regime is helping to build the muscles and the balance. Morgan and Anderson have been great with jogging along with me in the mornings…and picking me up when I fall," he replied softly with a hint of rueful humour.

Hotch nodded but the younger man seemed very cheerful and was just being honest about his present disability. It was great to see him socialising again outside of his exercise regime and he had set himself this goal some months ago. Reid had told the Hotchners that he'd like to see Grace when he could walk into their house unaided. Grace was now nearly 4 months old and Spencer had finally reached that target. During those early months Spencer had been involved in an intensive programme of physiotherapy and counselling which, together with the support of family and friends, had helped him make great strides in reclaiming back his life.

Hotch had been regularly riding with Spencer although the stables insisted that Hotch was to hold his friend's horse steady for the disabled man while he mounted and dismounted for insurance reasons. Spencer had quietly accepted these restrictions but once in the saddle he was as competent a rider as he had always been. They had a strict rule that they would never discuss work during these rides but this opened up another world of possibilities and Hotch enjoyed the wide-ranging conversations he had with his friend.

"Come with me, Spencer," Jack commanded leading the way into the family room, "Grace is sleeping at the moment…She's very good," he proudly announced to the guests.

Spencer raised an eyebrow at the other adults and followed meekly while Jo fell into line behind him with Hayley and Hotch bringing up the rear.

Spencer peered down at the sleeping baby and his face automatically softened along with his voice.

"Oh Jack…your little sister is beautiful," Spencer said softly and the boy smiled up at him responding to the genuine tone of the man's voice. " Grace is very like you were at this age…Mommy and Daddy brought you into the BAU office to show you to everyone and you were very good too and didn't cry. You're very fortunate to have a baby sister…I never had a brother or sister and part of me had always wanted one to play with."

Jack beamed, "I know she's a little small to play with now but she'll soon grow and then I can show her lots of things."

"Of course you will…Jo and I have brought Grace a little present would you like to open it for her?" Spencer asked the attentive boy.

Jack nodded and Jo reached into the shiny carrier and brought out a cube shape wrapped in shiny bright pink paper. Jack took the present and set about tearing off the wrapping to reveal a plain white cardboard box. He opened one end and drew out a shape encased in bubble wrap and Jo gently took the white box from him. The boy carefully took the bubble wrap off to reveal a wooden carved grinning cat painted with black and white patches.

Jack peered at it curiously, and placed it on the table.

"There's still something else in the box," Jo gently reminded him and the boy reached inside the proffered cube again.

Jack found another identical shape. He once again removed the bubble wrap and another quite weighty carved grinning cat was uncovered but this time painted with ginger and white stripes. Jack placed it next to the black and white cat.

"These cats have a special job. So what do you think the cats are for?" Jo asked.

Jack looked carefully at the happy and colourful cats and took a few moments to consider his reply.

"Well they could be guardian cats for Grace's bedroom," he answered looking into Jo's black eyes for re-assurance about this reply.

"What a lovely idea," Jo replied with a broad smile.

"They are sort of guardians," said the equally delighted Spencer, "They're book ends…so they look after the books that are placed between them on a shelf."

Jack beamed at the two guests, "That's a nice thing. I've got a bookcase for all my books in my bedroom but Grace isn't old enough for lots of big books like me. We could put the cats on her drawer chest."

"What a great idea," answered Hayley, "I'll take them up later. Thank you, that's a really thoughtful gift that will last for many years," she said to the couple but Jack was staring expectantly once more at the shiny carrier.

"We have also brought something for a big brother," said Spencer and Jack's eyes shone with excitement and anticipation.

Jo reached inside and brought out a smaller box that was wrapped in shiny dark blue paper with gold stars and placed it into his hands.

"Jack…what do you say?" Hayley gently reminded the boy.

"Thank you, " he whispered with large shining eyes focused upon the gift in his hands. Jo and Spencer smiled warmly at him and he tore off the paper to reveal a familiar type of box.

"It's a new engine!" he pronounced, his voice full of excitement as he tore off the box end in his hurry to find out which engine.

"Look Daddy…It's a goods engine!" he said triumphantly holding it up for all to see, "It's an orange engine and he'll be friends with the blue engine… I'm going to show him all the other engines," announced Jack and he turned away talking to himself as he headed towards the den at the far end of the room.

The adults finally let out all the laughter they had been holding in.

"Well that's Jack happy for the rest of the day and probably another week," Hotch replied following his son's happy progress.

"All thanks to Hayley giving us a list of engines that he would like. Fortunately, the orange goods one was top of the list and easily found in Alexandria," Jo assured, "I was expecting something really difficult to hunt down but the engine was easy compared with the things we had to find for Ben and Lydia."

"How is Melinda?" Hayley solicitously asked.

"She has her hands full with three now and Freya has quite a strong temperament," Jo replied meaningfully to her fellow woman.

Hotch and Spencer eyed each other and decided by wordless consent to join Jack in the den.

Hayley began to prepare coffee and check the cooking while she continued chatting with Jo.

"My parents are thrilled and Mom helps out a lot so Melinda does get some time to rest, but Freya is one of those that seems to need little sleep and that disturbs Lydia because she's a light sleeper. Ben can sleep through anything and does but then he has always been the much easier going child of the family. We had Lydia and Ben yesterday and took them out to run off some of their energy and gave them some extra attention because Freya seems to have taken over the family at the moment."

"Yes, new babies can do that and the older ones can find themselves overshadowed by the new arrival. I'm so pleased that Jack has been very good at adjusting to having a baby in the family…but it must be a bit difficult for Ben because he's what two years?"

"Yes, Lydia is the bossy big sister and Mommy's little helper but Ben still needs the attention and re-assurance. Mom has been very good giving Melinda that time to just play and read to Ben. He was very good yesterday but you could tell that he loved having Spencer's undivided attention while I took Lydia to the stables and she rode a little Shetland pony."

"Spencer's very good with children isn't he…" Hayley observed.

"Oh yes, and he's getting into practice now for when ours arrives…" said Jo beaming.

""You're…Oh that's wonderful!" Hayley couldn't contain herself and spontaneously hugged Jo, "I bet your parents are over the moon."

"Yes, the whole family are. After what happened with the bomb we're lucky to be alive but we'd decided to try on that trip but I'm only just so you're the first people outside the family to know…I couldn't believe it and did three different pregnancy tests to be sure," Jo confessed.

Hayley smiled with understanding, "I can understand that, Jo, especially after all that's happened to you both. But it's wonderful and something to look forward to and plan for and it just all helps you both to move on."

"Exactly, I've tried very hard not to let what happened in London take over our lives. We're lucky to be alive. I know Spencer lost part of his leg but we can still do a lot of the activities we enjoyed together and the world hasn't come to an end. He's still attached to the FBI and doing work that he's very interested in. It's not all plain sailing wearing a prosthesis, but Spencer is trying hard with all the re-habilitation exercises and Max and Arthur have been close by to give him psychological support. In fact everyone we're been in contact with at the Bureau have been very thoughtful and supportive since we got back from England…"

"The fact that the Director sent Aaron to escort him home was a signal that the Bureau didn't want to lose his talents. I know Aaron was delighted when he seemed interested in remaining as a consultant profiler," Hayley said but then changed the subject to happier prospects, "You've had a busy time recently what with finding your house and getting it round to your liking."

"Yeah, that was a real surprise but I can't take the credit for finding it. Jeff discovered the house while looking for possible properties for the Fairfax Estates portfolio and he said that it was a lovely place and that I ought to take a look at it. We both liked it despite the size of the garden and all the plants. But typical of Spencer to decide to become an 'expert' on everything growing, including the weeds!"

Hayley chuckled, "Now that's the real Spencer we know and a good sign that he's getting back to normal."

Jo nodded and Hayley caught a fleeting look of concern.

" Spencer is making good progress isn't he?" Hayley asked unsure about the last remark.

Jo looked up and her open face revealed all of her concerns, "The doctors are all positive and say that he has made an excellent recovery and they have been very impressed with the British surgeon's work but Spencer has had to work so hard to get to this point. I've noticed how he has retreated a lot into his music…I suppose it's just like how I buried myself in art and interior design after I was attacked. I think I envy him that he can still play his lute and his father's violin and part of me wishes that I could still play my cello. It's selfish of me and people say 'but Jo you sing with the choir' but it's not the same."

"I'm sorry I didn't realise that you once played the cello but at least you do have your interest in music and you are very successful in your career," Hayley soothed and wondered about the dark memories that she had inadvertently triggered.

But suddenly Jo turned on her smile and her black eyes lit up full of the joy for life, "Yes, you're quite right and having the house to focus on was a godsend. It was wonderful to find that we both liked that old established garden and now we have to plan for a nursery. Max and Arthur have yet to hear that piece of news, but Spencer is having lunch with Don tomorrow. In the afternoon he's seeing Max about gradually easing him back to do some psych interviews. I think that once Spencer feels he's back working at the Bureau he'll feel that his world is getting back to the normality he wants."

Hayley listened carefully and nodded at Jo's analysis of the complex situation. They were a very talented couple and now both were physically scarred by events that had over taken their lives quite out of the blue. She couldn't stop her eyes staring at Jo's scarred and deformed hand and the thought suddenly entered her head concerning the practicalities of coping with a small baby.

"Marilyn and Jeff are going to pay for me to have a live in nanny as part of my salary package," Jo suddenly said and Hayley felt a sudden jolt of guilt.

"Sorry, I just couldn't stop the thought of how you would cope, but how thoughtful of the Bevans," said Hayley deciding that honesty would be the most acceptable path.

"Yes, they are and I'm very fortunate to work for them. They were very supportive of me when I was very depressed after my world fell apart after the assault on me. I know that I'm lucky to be alive and often think about poor Sandrine and what terror she must have felt at the hands of her former boyfriend. It's really like having a second set of parents and I often get the feeling that they look upon me like a daughter, rather than a niece, but they are genuinely nice people and we all get on well as a family. I'm well aware that there are a lot of families that are not as close, nor as supportive of one another, and they have taken to Spencer as well."

"That's good especially with his mother's situation," answered Hayley, "Are you going to tell Diana?"

"Not until things are more advanced and Spencer said that he'd take the advice of the staff. We didn't tell her about us until several weeks after the wedding on the advice of the staff and then she chose to ignore it. Diana still does ignore that Spencer is married because in her world he mustn't be and so the possibility of being a grandmother is probably going to be ignored as well. I have accompanied Spencer to visit her back in Las Vegas although she usually refuses to even acknowledge me, but if Spencer takes his lute and plays then I am allowed to sing."

"Oh, Jo, I'm sorry but that must make things very difficult at times," stated Hayley with feeling for this warm woman.

"Well Spencer has always been honest with me over Diana and I prefer to go with him on his visits because I want to support my partner. He can't help her illness and it haunted him for years that he might develop schizophrenia but of course he's passed that peak time and it doesn't seem likely now. But Spencer also told me that Diana's dabbling with the drug scene at Berkeley in her student days could have triggered her illness anyway. That's one thing that Spencer has not done…recreational drugs have never been part of his life, but all those extra tests the Bureau continued with after the Hankel case! Well, lets just say that Spencer tried to put on a brave face but it got to a point of being very annoying," Jo replied knowing that she could confide in this friend. "We're hoping that now he's a consultant it will drop back to being a more normal testing regime."

Hayley nodded in sympathy, "Does Diana know that he was injured in the bombing?" Hayley suddenly asked.

"Actually Gideon contacted the sanatorium a few days after the incident but he asked Spencer's permission before doing that. The doctor's there chose the right time to tell Diana but the staff said there was no reaction to the news probably, I suppose, because he had survived. Spencer's not been to see her since the bombing and I don't think he's mentioned any of it in his letters but then he's very careful about what he puts into his letters anyway."

Hayley's memories of the case that had frightened her a few years back suddenly surfaced but she didn't want to talk about any of that on this happy day. It had shocked both Aaron and her that personnel records had been breached and Hayley had felt particularly vulnerable with a small baby. However, she fleetingly wondered if Spencer had told Jo about how Diana Reid had been central to that case and how Elle had never really recovered, from her near death experience, and eventually she had left. Hayley mentally shuddered and decided to turn away from unpleasant memories and changed the subject.

"So who are you going to have as your doctor?" Hayley cheerfully asked.

Meanwhile in the den, Hotch watched his son and his friend.

Spencer had got down on the floor beside the track to join in Jack's world of trains. It brought back earlier memories of a similar occasion just after Christmas when Hotch had watched these two playing with the new train set.

"The orange goods engine is very busy…and the other trains have to let him pass…" Jack stated as he pushed the engine along the track.

"Why do the engines let the orange engine go first?" asked Spencer to immerse himself into this boy's world.

"He's got lots and lots of things to get to other towns…See he's got lots of trucks to carry things on," replied Jack busily re-arranging the trains on the track so the goods engine could run freely around the layout.

"What sort of things are in the trucks?" Spencer gently pressed to stretch the child's imagination.

Jack looked up a moment and seemed far away in thought then his eyes lit up, "Freezers and computers and bikes," he clearly pronounced and turned back to pushing the engine and trucks around the track.

Hotch smiled at the scene. Spencer was now joining in the story line that the youngster has created and the man was now in charge of the blue engine that pulled the passenger train that was taking children to the zoo.

Jo was suddenly beside Hotch with a mug of coffee and she placed Spencer's on a coffee table nearby.

"I see the boys are busy," she whispered, "Mmm Spencer's got down but he's not got his walking stick with him today so he doesn't have anything to lever himself up with," she quietly informed Hotch as he sipped his drink and looked a little concerned. But Jo smoothly continued,

"He'll eventually realise and will either crawl along to that stable chair to help him or ask for your help," she re-assured Hotch.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Hotch whispered and Jo smiled her thanks before turning to rejoin Hayley.

After a few minutes Hotch decided to take Spencer his coffee and was prepared to distract Jack while Spencer drank it hot rather than have it end up as a tepid liquid.

Half an hour later, Hayley appeared to announce that she'd be serving lunch in about five minutes.

"Lunch Jack," Hotch repeated to his son.

Jack looked up and accepted the tone in his father's voice.

"Can I play again after lunch?" he asked his father.

"Of course you can. It looks as if orange engine has a busy timetable," Hotch assured his son.

"Mmm…" sounded the boy and unhooked the engine from the trucks, "The orange engine is going to have lunch too," and got up carrying the toy towards the dining table.

Spencer laughed softly, "He has a lovely imagination and his language is very good for his age."

"Oh he can keep going for hours with this train set. I swear it's the best present that we've ever bought him." Hotch replied watching Spencer who was looking round for a piece of furniture to help him.

"You need any help?" Hotch softly asked but he didn't really want to interfere with the man's strategies for coping with his disablement.

"I can get down easily enough but I have a tendency to forget about the problems of getting upright again. But I'll try that chair and see how it goes," the younger man replied and shuffled himself along until he was beside the solid leather arm chair and used it as a support to help him up.

"Thanks for letting me work it out; people are very kind, but you really do have to get yourself out of predicaments. I find that's the only way to build up your self- confidence about ordinary situations. I'll just go and wash my hands," said Spencer and disappeared.

Hotch took the empty mugs back to the kitchen where he found the two women had laid the table and Jack was happily in his place with his orange engine beside his plate.

"Has Spencer said anything?" Hayley whispered to her husband.

"About what?" he replied puzzled because Hayley was obviously bursting to tell him something that was happy.

"Obviously not," whispered Jo, "He was too busy playing trains so you can imagine what the first toy our child will have no matter what the sex," she added. Jo carefully kept her voice low while watching Jack at the table who was still talking about the 'train world' to the goods engine.

Hotch was grinning at his guest, "No he didn't say but then he was deep into Jack's train world…Congratulations Jo…" and he spontaneously gave her brief hug.

"Ah you've told them," said Spencer who had just entered the room to witness this.

"I did say in your defence that you'd not had time to talk to me," Hotch soothed.

"True, I have been busy and I was in charge of the passenger traffic," Spencer replied in mock seriousness that made the adults laugh.

"Come along every one, sit down and I'll put the meal on the table," commanded Hayley. She was grateful that Grace was happy to lie in her pram between her mother and Jo and receive a lot of attention from both women throughout lunch.

**Two months later.**

Section Head, Aaron Hotchner, strode purposefully down the corridor towards the open door of the office that housed Dr. Max Pentall.

Hotch rapped on the door to signal his arrival and Max looked up from the report he was reading and smiled warmly.

"Hello Hotch, what can I do for you?" he asked cheerfully.

Hotch closed the door and turned to face the seated man, "I need Reid back in the BAU now," he stated firmly.

Max removed his spectacles and smiled, "Help yourself to coffee and tell me about it," he invited as he closed the file and placed it into his desk drawer.

Hotch went and poured a cup of Max's excellent coffee and sat down on the couch where Max came to join him with his own half drunk black liquid.

"You need Reid back now…why?" the psychologist repeated.

"Max you've had him working with agents' assessments, so he must be capable of working full time again, but I need his profiling skills urgently. The profile isn't working on the New York case they're working. There has been two more deaths this week…I need Reid's divergent thinking, Kingsley has probably got set on one track and can't see another angle…Bringing in Reid will be a fresh mind looking at the facts and he may see things differently…"

Max stared hard at the former BAU Chief and nodded, "Or Reid may confirm the profile already produced."

"True," conceded Hotch, "But Barry requested Reid if possible and I agree with him; this killer has to be caught…"

"Reid's a consultant remember and not on call all hours despite the temptation. He has made a very good recovery but he's still adjusting to his disability and by late afternoon the leg is usually beginning to ache and his walking then becomes less smooth and, consequently, he's more likely to fall. He tries not to use a stick although he does have one in his car but Spencer is determined to master the balance for getting around in as normal a way as possible.

Just remember working on agents' assessments is in many ways easier than the stresses of an on going case where there is pressure for results. I know the buzz of the chase is something you profilers all feel, especially with the high profile cases like this New York one," lectured Max to drive home that Spencer was still getting use to living as an amputee. However, Max also knew that there would be a time when Spencer Reid had to try and integrate himself back into a new way of working in his old department.

"But I know that he's ready to try out the office and all that fancy technology for conferencing you have set up for him," Max conceded, "Reid's just interviewing an agent who was caught up in a 'suicide by cop' incident. He'll have to write up that report then I'll send him to the BAU but I don't want him over worked, he's only been back 3 weeks and this is the first full week of normal hours," warned Max.

"Reid seems to have come out of the London incident very well," replied Hotch carefully. Hotchner wondered if he had misjudged Reid's level of recovery both physically and psychologically. His friend always seemed eager to go riding when Hotch suggested the activity and he'd not seen him showing any signs of depression nor had Reid complained in anyway about his present situation. Hotch was no fool and sensitive to the younger man's plight. He thought that the young couple must have had some soul searching conversations over the months but Reid was a man who tended to have an optimistic outlook and this positive side of him tended to dominate his approach to life.

"I wouldn't have Reid on psych assessments if I didn't think him stable enough or physically capable of the work either," Max suddenly stated and cut through Hotch's thoughts. Hotch looked up guiltily when he realised that Max had read his doubt.

"Spencer Reid has made an excellent physical recovery and he is as strong as ever psychologically. Fortunately, all that ground work we did with him over that Hankel case means that he trusts my people and knows himself well. We have had some very heart searching sessions and I know that he is ready for profiling work again. I probably would prefer a more gentler return to that department but the BAU is hardly easy-going with the cases that come their way."

"No, it's never been but Reid is the best and you know it…I wouldn't be supporting the BAU under my section if I didn't want him on this case and Barry is right in this. They have tried but it needs a fresh look and Reid has all that experience," Hotch repeated his argument.

Max smiled softly, "Pax Hotch, I know Barry needs Reid back but it will be this departments loss and I don't want the BAU to over work him, he's not got all his old energy back and that leg really does slow him down."

There was a knock on the closed door and both men turned to face it.

"Come!" commanded Max and both were surprised when Dr. Spencer Reid walked in carrying a standard buff coloured file.

He glanced over to them and a smile automatically crossed his face, "Now you two look like co-conspirators," he said with laughter in his voice and his large brown eyes twinkling with amusement.

"We were just talking about you," Max honestly replied, "Hotch here wants you back in the BAU and I said I needed your report on Agent Martinez first," he continued and rose with his out stretched hand ready for the file.

"He's ready to return to normal duties. Martinez's well balanced and, although he tried to intervene in the situation, he quickly realised that the man was intent on death. The perpetrator was continually goading the LEOs and when he fired on them, just missing the sergeant, then it was obviously going to be a shoot out. It was Martinez's bullet that actually killed him although other bullets from police weapons had also hit him," reported Reid.

Max speed read the report and nodded, "Good, I concur with your assessment. I reluctantly have to agree with Hotch that your talents are urgently needed in the BAU at the moment so go and establish yourself as the senior consulting criminal psychologist. Go on …Barry needs you," Max said decisively and Hotch and Reid were suddenly out of the calmness of Max's office and heading down the corridor.

"Have you been keeping up with the New York society 'jock' murders?" Hotch asked as they made their way to the elevator.

"Only with what has been in the media," replied Spencer feeling his heart pound with the excitement of being back on a BAU case.

Hotch and Reid walked through the doors and into familiar territory. For Dr. Reid, it felt good to be back although he had been in on a quiet Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks back and sorted out his newly decorated office ready for his real return.

"Hi Reid!" Anderson called from the direction of the kitchen area.

Reid grinned and raised a hand in acknowledgement as many other familiar faces looked up from their work on hearing the greeting.

"Good to see you…" called Emily and beamed a welcoming smile before returning to the phone call she was involved with.

"Jonson!" called Hotch to get the attention of an agent who was of medium build with iron-grey wiry hair that was fast receding.

Jonson walked swiftly over towards the Section Chief.

"Richard Jonson, this is Dr. Spencer Reid…Reid this is Agent Jonson who heads the third team and came back to us from the New Mexico Field Office…"

"Very pleased to meet you Dr. Reid," the middle-aged man warmly shook the proffered hand.

"Reid is just fine…I must say that it does feel good to be back here…I've missed the atmosphere," he answered with a beaming smile that Jonson automatically responded to.

"Glad you decided to stay within the Bureau and didn't escape to full time academia. You've got such a reputation that it would be a shame to lose all that expertise," Jonson enthused.

"Well it was a good offer and I can't complain because I enjoy doing a bit of work with Max Pentall's team as well so I have the best of all worlds," Reid confessed.

"Ah! Max finally let you go!" called Barry from the raised level by the conference room and walked swiftly to descend the steps to be on their level.

"I told you I'd try and prise him away…It was quite a fight!" Hotch stated to the Unit Chief but Barry looked at Reid's expression and came to his own conclusions.

"Sure it was…We need you more than ever, are you ready for a briefing on this New York case," Barry was suddenly all business and Hotch bowed out and headed for the door while Reid nodded and turned to follow Barry up the steps to his office.

Many eyes followed Dr. Reid's progress as he took the steps carefully, holding onto the rail.

"He's done really well, you don't notice until he gets to steps or if he has to step backwards. It's the hardest thing for a amputee to get right…the balance for climbing stairs and walking backwards," Anderson said softly to Jonson who nodded as he watched the slight rolling gait of the senior consultant profiler as he entered Barry's office and closed the door.

"I gather you and Morgan did a lot of workouts with him while he was on sick leave," Jonson said and thought about the general warmth that seeped through conversations about the genius. Now he had personally met him he understood the commitment to the injured colleague.

"Well, there were lots of us who joined him for his workouts and later walking and jogging sessions. Prentiss and Garcia did a lot of walking with him and Hotch takes him riding and swimming because he needs someone with him now he's disabled. Reid has an even temperament and a great determination to get back on his feet and doing as much as he used too…with a few necessary adjustments he's doing just that. He's a nice guy and has a lovely wife too," stated Anderson and thought about his friend's strength of character to pick up the pieces after such a traumatic incident. Over the months he had seen the progress and shared the little triumphs with the man and wondered how he would have coped with such a disability in a similar situation. Anderson had seen the bruises from all the early falls and had been shocked at seeing the stump for the first time. But he had met his friend's eyes and he began to learn how amputees attached their false limbs and dealt with soreness and pain as they adapted to the prosthetic.

Meanwhile, Barry handed Reid the file and began to give him a synopsis of the case that was keeping the first away team occupied.

"You've probably read about the 'jock murders' in New York. They started nearly 4 weeks ago now but we were only called in after the third death. There was a week between the first and second murders and then the third was 5 days later and that's when the LEOs decided to get help. The victims all have money and connections so everyone is under pressure to get results but we don't seem to be getting them. On Monday there was another murder and finally last night, although the body wasn't found until this morning.

All the victims were white males, aged between 25 and 29 years of age, well-dressed, good looking and the members of some very expensive clubs. All had professional occupations or were heading for a professional status. They all had a record for dating pretty women but there was no regular girlfriend for any of them. So far we have not found a link between any of the victims other than they lived and worked, or studied, in New York and came from comfortably well off families. They all were above average sportsmen and hence the press tagged these the 'sports jocks'. Three of the five played football for their colleges and one was a fanatical skier while the other loved swimming and sailing.

Same M.O.; shot through the back of the head. All the victims tested positive for cocaine but not in excessive amounts so it's the typical 'recreational use'. The victims were all found after a night clubbing. There appears to be no motive because the victim's personal belongings were still on them, even credit cards and hundreds of dollars in the case of the fourth victim.

They were all murdered in the evening round midnight or the early hours, the second murder was estimated to be the latest at about 2 a.m. All were found in alleys, or near waste ground, not far from where they were last seen. They had all left a club alone although they had danced and socialised during the evening. These sites were dark and no attempt had been made to cover the bodies. In fact, the impression of the homicide detective, who investigated the first two murders, was that he thought them more like an execution and wondered if they had gambling debts or were involved in drugs but their investigations drew a blank. All the victims had healthy bank balances and no indication of regular large withdrawals other than the usual domestic payments," Barry said and looked up at the reading Reid.

"Mmmm…now lets see, the profile produced an Unsub who is believed to be a closet homosexual, or bisexual, and that he's killing straight men as a form of revenge for the humiliation he has suffered in the past from similar types of men to the victims. So you think the Unsub had his advances rejected in the past and is taking revenge…"

"That's about it," conceded Barry, "There just didn't seem any other reason for these men to be targeted. They were also young and fit men so the Unsub must be pretty fit and strong himself and of a similar age. We initially thought that he was briefly stalking his victims to get to know their routines. However, recently we think he may gain access to these venues, and being bisexual doesn't draw any particular attention to himself, but he picks his targets from those he sees around him. The two murders in one week is an escalation that the NYPD just didn't need and Kingsley's team are still getting to know each other."

Reid looked up and met Barry's eyes. There was no need to say anything, but Reid could imagine the tensions and power-struggles Kingsley was facing with the strong personalities in his team. Reid had listened to both Emily and Morgan expressing their concerns, during the times that they had joined him on his exercise regimes, about the changes that were being implemented in the BAU. Morgan had expected to be one of the team leaders and that disappointment still rankled.

"I'm going to mull this over in my office and christen the coffee maker there," Dr. Spencer Reid pronounced rising from the chair, "I'll get back to you as soon as I have something to add and then we can get a link going with the away team."

Spencer approached Gideon's old office carrying the case note folders. He noticed his name and position clearly marked on the door's identification plate. He was now about to really begin in his new position. He may have been here briefly to sort out his things ready for this day but now Reid had to turn all his professional abilities to helping to solve these nasty crimes.

Dr Reid closed the door and his brain registered the still faint smell of paint. He placed the files on the desk. He pushed the chair away from the desk so he would be able to sit down. The chair was positioned with its back to the window and Reid turned his attention to this large expanse of glass and adjusted the venetian blinds to let in some light. The next thing he did was to fill the coffee machine and to get it brewing. Reid finally returned to the desk chair and sat down to wait for the machine to finish gurgling away to itself, although the aroma of the Colombian coffee beans was soon filling the room.

Directly opposite the desk was a JEM painting that took up almost the whole width of the wall. He knew from Morgan that there was much speculation about the cost of this piece of art. Morgan meanwhile had told the bullpen that the Reids' liked JEM's work and had even given Angela and himself a JEM picture for their wedding present. This particular painting was of a Nevada desert landscape. Spencer chose to put this in his office because Jo had captured all the warmth and fascinating subtle changes of the desert colours. The observer had to look carefully but Jo had also included some of the creatures that lived amongst the sand and rocks. Spencer never tired of looking at this landscape and finding new creatures, while at the same time losing himself in its expanse helped to relax him from the pressures of the real world.

He opened the files and took out the copies of the crime scene photos and various medical reports together with the summaries of investigations along with witness statements. The profiler spread out the material and began to immerse himself into the minutiae of the case. When the coffee machine stopped gurgling he rose and poured out a berry red mug full of rich black coffee, while his mind continued to mull over the various facts. He decided not to add milk from the small fridge that the coffee machine sat upon because he wanted to let the caffeine have its full effect on his brain.

Two hours later he emerged from his domain and slipped through Barry's open door.

Barry was reading a summary of that months expenditure and was grateful when he heard the uneven footfall at the threshold.

He looked up and asked hopefully, "Have you formed an opinion?"

"Yes," replied Dr. Reid softly, "I disagree with the profile."

"Ah…We might get somewhere now. Garcia has been hovering wanting to test the new technology…"

Spencer grinned and suddenly the larger than life Penelope Garcia was at the door.

"Are we going to set up a link with New York? I've told Morgan and Kingsley that you're here working on the case," she asked hopefully beaming from her latest black rimmed designer spectacles that helped to give her an air of superior elegance along with her black and white pin striped pant suit. The ensemble was complimented by a fuchsia pink silk blouse and a matching large pink velvet rose on the lapel of her jacket. She also wore matching pink dangling earrings; each made up of three baubles of increasing size hanging down by a golden thread. Around her neck was a necklace of very large and chunky shiny black beads. Penelope Garcia was maintaining her more slender shape and enjoyed showing off the figure that the dieting had revealed.

Reid smiled spontaneously at his friend's arrival, "Yes, you can activate the multiple screen link with the team…but give me about 10 minutes because I've got to give Barry a summary of my thinking."

Garcia grinned with excitement and turned away to retreat to her realm. But then she suddenly stopped and turned back and both men stared at her quizzically.

"I forgot to say, "Welcome back…but I'm going to have to give you a new nickname…You're no longer my Junior G. man…"

"A new name?" Reid repeated and looked pensively towards Barry who shrugged and wondered where Garcia's oddball thinking was going to next.

"Yeah…THE DOCTOR!" she dramatically announced.

Spencer eyed her solemnly and then said, "I seem to have lost my sonic screwdriver," while patting down his brown corduroy jacket, "and I've forgotten where I've parked the Tardis!"

Barry chuckled, "I thought you look more like a mad professor myself…"

"Nah…that's too common, he's always had an academic air about him but The Doctor…well that makes him a bit more exotic and mysterious as only our genius could ever be!" she replied and then swept out.

"I sometimes think I'm the only sane one here…" Barry muttered darkly.

"Only sometimes?" Reid's soft teasing voice responded.

End of Chapter 29


	30. Chapter 30

**The Interregnum: Chapter 30**

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

J.J. looked up from the computer screen at the sound of the agitation in Morgan's voice. Barry had said that Kingsley was still adjusting to Morgan and Ellison in his team and testosterone would be over-flowing with these particular males. Jareau missed having Prentiss around to be another woman and, as a profiler, Emily could have pulled more weight with these men. Emily Prentiss was quite happy to be assigned with the third team under Richard Jonson and they had seemed to gel quickly as a team and worked very well with the new comer, Mike Luton. As the liaison and media specialist, J.J. had more seniority than her counterparts, Gary Tindall and Josie Westlake, who had also been brought in to the new team structure. Barry seemed to like to send J.J. on the more difficult and high profile cases like this present one. The NYPD had come under considerable pressure to get results and so far that had not happened just two more bodies since the BAU had arrived. She had just been checking her contacts with the local news stations to keep them on board. Barry had informed her that Reid was back in the BAU and on the case, but the rest of the team was still discussing the most recent witness statements from the last murder.

Matt Kingsley strolled over to Jareau and gave her a weary smile.

"You heard that Hotch has got Dr. Reid from Pentall's clutches?" he asked softly as he sank his large frame into the chair beside her desk.

"Yeah, had a message from Barry saying Reid was going over the material and to be ready for a video conference later."

"I know Reid's reputation goes before him but he's been out of the BAU and profiling since that London bombing…Have you seen him since?" Kingsley probed.

"Socially, I went over for lunch at the Reid's new home with Garcia. Dr. Reid seems as capable as ever although he's now a consultant and technically an invalid. Reid's changed a lot since the last time he was with the BAU, but then that was almost a year ago now, when we had all those changes to accommodate the cutbacks. He really began to change after the Hankel case, where he was kidnapped and tortured. Now, after a stint as a deputy to Katie Cole, he has far more confidence. I guess with his reputation over the Washington paedophile ring, we naturally think he has an air of gravitas these days. I've particularly noticed that he changed when he left the BAU, but then he also got married and held a prestigious position and that changed him even more…

People now naturally assume his seniority from the way he enters a room. I mean that before he was seconded to the CACU, Spence just quietly took the back seat unless called upon to use his expertise. I think most of that was just letting Gideon, as his mentor, take the lead. But near the end of Gideon's time with us, Spence was covering for a lot of Gideon's behaviour…I guess we all did really, we just wanted to get Gideon to retirement but then things took an unexpected turn and well…it ended differently. But Spence saw Gideon while in England and they seemed to have got on very well again. Gideon was there at the hospital as soon as he could be after that bombing." JJ replied carefully. Kingsley smiled and noted that she had slipped into an informal name for the consultant towards the end. The team leader also noted that her admission of seeing the man and his wife socially indicated a deeper friendship than that of just colleagues.

Jareau liked Kingsley and wished Morgan would ease up on him. Kingsley had certainly pulled the shortest straw when it came to the teams. Rob Ellison was a capable agent but as much an alpha male as Morgan and Kingsley. Consequently, this was not the easiest of teams to work with. Morgan and Ellison were often in a competitive ego fight and Kingsley was left to curb its excesses. Morgan was frequently left feeling that he was the one who was singled out for the harsher criticism but JJ felt that perhaps Morgan's ego was feeling bruised because he'd not got the promotion he thought he had earned. However, from her own observations on this case, Jareau thought Morgan deserved much of the criticism that Kingsley had made of his recent behaviour.

Kingsley was deep in his own thoughts when his cell phone summoned his attention.

"Hi Garcia…You do and we have…OK I'll round up the team," he replied crisply.

"Well, Dr. Reid wants to try out the communications link…Can you get things set up?" he continued smoothly to JJ as he put the cell phone away in his pocket.

"Yeah, I got it ready after Barry said Reid was back," she grinned hoping that this would give them some fresh insights.

"JJ, it's a pleasure to have you with this team," Kingsley said as he stood and turned towards the other two team members. JJ was sure that she heard a deep sigh as he began to walk towards them.

They were fortunate that this police headquarters was equipped with modern satellite communication equipment. The team had the use of a room with a large communication's screen that would connect them with the senior consultant's office back at the BAU in Quantico. In a poorer area, the team could have used their laptops to connect to the system in the consultant's office and then Reid could have configured the large screen, to the left of his desk, into a multi screen format to accommodate more than one laptop connection.

Reid was comfortable with this form of communication. He had experienced video conferencing while at Harvard and Princeton and enjoyed the use of Skype to keep in touch with far-flung friends at home and abroad. He was trying to persuade Ruth and Gideon to have a Skype connection and had even promised to show them how to use it next time he was in England. Reid still planned to go to England again next April to see Gideon and Ruth. This situation was even more of an incentive to have Skype in Ruth's home because Jo would probably not feel comfortable travelling with a very new baby so at least he would be able to keep track of the baby's progress while he was away.

While waiting for the link to begin, the new senior consultant had been musing over several things. Reid hoped that if he made the England trip official, by tying it in with lectures, then he would overcome any fears of returning to that country. Dr. Spencer Reid was a conscientious man and didn't like to let down people so such a commitment would help to get him on the plane to Heathrow. Gideon had said he'd try to meet him off the plane. Both men knew that this was more than a gesture of friendship but also an acknowledgement of the possible flashbacks that might arise by being back in the country that had led to his change of status within the Bureau.

However, Reid was grateful for the medical care he'd received following the bombing and the excellent support that Max, Arthur and Don had provided following his homecoming and recuperation period. The amputee had also discovered a solid band of friends who worked alongside him to help him conquer his physical disability. Reid was also grateful for the unofficial counselling that Max had extended to Jo, although they all knew that the pregnancy had been the biggest positive healing event for them both. The terrorists responsible for the London bombing had so far not been caught although the authorities had identified suspects who had just seemed to disappear into thin air. The tightly knit refugee and immigrant communities could be protecting these suspects or they could have been helped to escape with false identities. It was the nature of terrorism that the perpetrators could be protected by their own people in a show of solidarity against the common enemy of a foreign government, even if they were living peaceably under that same government and not in danger themselves or perceived as suspect terrorists.

Spencer and Jo had spent endless hours talking about the terrorists who had killed and maimed so many innocent people and altered so many lives. It all seemed so senseless because all that had been achieved by the perpetrators was a tightening of the 'terrorist legislation' and a move to be less willing to take in refugees. Reid wondered how the American people would have reacted to a similar incident, say in New York or Washington, and concluded that the reaction would have been the same as the British. It was probably just one of many considered scenarios for the training of anti- terrorism personnel, especially since 9/11. They were really in a state of constant alertness even if the general public never usually thought about terrorism. The public went about their lives that were more concerned with their employment and immediate family matters, but Reid was part of a different world that thankfully rarely touched the majority. However, this was a vast country and home-grown terrorism could flare up at any time and it didn't need religion to be the excuse or a leaning towards a particular philosophy of government. Few law enforcement personnel needed to be reminded of the 'Unibomber' and how long it took to find him, nor the lack of co-ordinated information that failed to stop the devastation of 9/11. However, all the agencies had learnt a lot since those days and none were complacent about their responsibilities. Reid decided that his thoughts were turning down a very dark alley and tried to redirect his mind to his present situation.

The senior consultant criminal psychologist sat in his new office waiting for the team in New York to activate the link. He was now truly his own man. There was no Gideon or Katie Cole to take the 'rap' if he got things wrong. Dr. Reid was very aware that profiles were only an indication of the type of Unsub being hunted and could change with additional evidence from the crime. Ultimately, a profile was just a tool in an investigation and the quality of the 'policing' and forensics were also important to a successful outcome. He had worked with the NYPD before and, like all police forces, the quality of the LEOs was variable, but the diplomacy of the BAU team could help to smooth bruised egos and move an investigation along.

The connection bleeped and Reid reached forward and acknowledged the contact. He gave J.J. a broad smile knowing he would get a reciprocal response.

"Hi there, is everyone ready your end?" he asked with ease.

"Kingsley's getting the guys and they will be here soon. How's it feel to be in Gideon's chair?"

"It's a little odd but I've changed the décor here and of course this communications link alters the feel of the old room anyway. It doesn't feel like the room I first came into as a 21 year old …I suppose it helps because I have Gideon's blessing…He even predicted that the Bureau would offer me this status."

"Wow…I didn't realise that… So that was before Hotch came to see you?" J.J. asked taking his mind totally off the case for the moment.

"Yes, Gideon was sitting with me when I finally came round. He and Ruth were very supportive of both Jo and I …"

"O. K. gentlemen the link is up and ready," J.J. suddenly interrupted once more the thorough professional.

The men sat down before the screen with its wide angled camera and stared at the image of the academic looking man before them. Morgan couldn't help the smile that automatically transformed his serious expression.

"Good to see you, Reid," he said and then realised that he had technically spoken out of turn as Kingsley should have introduced himself first.

"Sorry, Sir," he suddenly said as he turned in apology to the senior agent.

Kingsley nodded, " Dr. Reid, I'm Matt Kingsley and this is Agent Rob Ellison, you of course are well known to your former colleagues."

"Good to be able to put the faces to new names, agents, and to see old colleagues. Some quick formalities first…I answer to Reid when we're having these contact sessions but more formally as Dr. Reid when the Media is being briefed," Reid began and the team picked up the professional tone behind the apparent friendliness. The consultant then launched into the case.

"I've reviewed all the material here and I've come to the conclusion that I cannot support your present profile. However, before I begin, do you have any new evidence that might support your ideas or refine my own?" he asked in a manner that was all business and gave no leeway for superficial backchat.

Kingsley liked that. He had heard Morgan 'lording' it over Ellison as soon as he'd told them that Reid was back at the BAU. Morgan had been stressing how he had known the new consultant for years and had seen the 'Kid' grow during his time at the BAU. True the man looked youthful but his manner and the searching brown eyes betrayed his experience as far as Kingsley was concerned.

"No, I can't say that we've got very far since we arrived here but there have been two more murders and no witnesses that have pointed us in a particular direction. The only solid evidence is the MO and the use of the same gun for all the murders. The bodies were all found in quiet alleys or near waste ground that was being cleared for new development. All the victims had arrived at the night clubs in a taxi but left on foot and we have no evidence that they took a taxi after leaving the clubs. So we are surmising that they accepted a lift with their killer and nothing appears to have been taken from the bodies," Kingsley summed up but eyed the other two men to see if either showed any inclination to add further comment.

The consultant on the screen nodded thoughtfully and then began to talk in a surprisingly soft voice considering the subject and Kingsley thought how this man would not have been out of place in a university lecture hall. The brown corduroy jacket and pale green shirt were brought alive by a rather eccentric tie with vivid splatters of oranges, yellows and dark green random splashes and trails of colour rather like a Jackson Pollock painting.

"I must say that I was intrigued by the fact that you considered the Unsub to possibly be a homosexual or bisexual because I can see no justification for such a claim," Reid stated and saw Morgan and Ellison fidget a little in their seats.

"We thought that because these men were all physically fit and quite tall and that a man of a similar build would have been involved, even just to move a dead body any distance," replied Ellison, his dark auburn hair stood out against his pale skin and grape green eyes.

"But what is the evidence for these victims having been murdered in a different place to where they were found?" Reid asked.

"Inconclusive," Morgan tersely replied, "They could have been driven to the sites where the victims were found or they could have walked. There were no conclusive signs of a struggle so that implies a certain amount of trust…"

"Or more than one Unsub," stated Reid.

"So it could have been two male Unsubs?" suggested Kingsley.

"I'm unconvinced that we are looking for two men. None of these victims had shown homosexual or even bisexual tendencies in the past…so why now? A homosexual is not going to approach a man in a blatantly obvious heterosexual venue. There are many establishments in New York that cater for the homosexual. As for the bisexual idea….again, a bisexual is not going to blatantly pick on someone who is obviously so straight…"

"Well, if you're suggesting two Unsubs then perhaps it was a dare of some kind…Picking on the most attractive heterosexual and then, when the victim rebuffs their approach, they kill him over the rejection…." continued Morgan pursuing the male Unsub theme.

"But the autopsy reports give no indication of a struggle…and these were fit and sporty men gentlemen, they could have looked after themselves and forcefully if need be. No these victims didn't think themselves in danger and that is why I think the victims were lured to their deaths by a woman because these men all had a common record of womanising. They would only be attracted to a woman and the victim's might have thought that they had a bed for the night," Reid expounded.

"Or it could have been a woman working in conjunction with a man. Her role was to lure the victim to a private place and then the man shot him," Ellison added picking up on the idea.

"Perhaps, but these were very confident victims when it came to females and I doubt that they would have wanted to share a woman with an unknown male. It takes a certain type to be attracted to that kind of voyeurism and these victims just don't fit that. They like control, they enjoy sex and their girlfriends appear to have enjoyed the experience and there is no mention of threesomes with another man. No these victims liked to be the sole male in charge when it came to relationships and would not have liked sharing a woman with another man." Reid reasoned.

"But they might have thought they'd try the experience, just for kicks?" suggested Morgan.

"But you have spoken to women previously connected with these men?" the consultant suddenly asked seeking clarification about the sexual behaviour of the victims.

Kingsley sighed, "Unfortunately, there are too many and none appeared to want to 'speak ill of the dead'. To these women, all the victims were nice guys who gave them a good time and the parting was amicable. It's like you said earlier, there has been no impression from our investigation so far that these men would have been involved with another man and sharing a woman."

"I rest my case, Morgan. Why would any of the victims involve themselves with an obvious 'heterosexual' couple? These victims were successful womanisers what had they to prove?" countered Reid.

"That they were that good and wanted to show off to another male," replied Morgan defiantly maintaining his corner of the argument.

"It just doesn't work for me, Morgan. None of these victims were showing off to their cronies after a 'boys' night out' and that's when such 'three-somes' usually occur, often with a prostitute. These victims thought themselves above using prostitutes, they could pick up a woman, and probably a pretty woman, just by being good-looking and financially solvent…You know how those New York women can sum up a man's worth in seconds…"

"Reid!" J.J. suddenly protested, "That's sexist…I know some nice New York women."

"So do I, but I also know how these clubs can be the hunting ground for the woman who wants a comfortably solvent man," replied Reid with a hint of a smile that made Kingsley wonder about the young consultant's past.

"I favour it's two people working together because there was no struggle and the shot to the back of the head… now that interests me. The initial homicide detective thought the first couple of murders were more like an execution and thought gambling debts were a possibility until that line of enquiry drew a blank. The victim didn't know what was coming but the one firing the gun didn't want to face the victim... That's why I favour two women working together and the victim may have thought that a 'three some' was on offer that night. A case of not being able to resist the possibility of two beautiful women to impress. The victim still felt that he was the dominant in the triangle and didn't suspect that anything was wrong with the other woman being behind him. The victim didn't know that he was in danger, but its still interesting that it was the back of the head. It implies the victim was distracted by the attentions of the first woman while the second did the deed, it was very calculated" suggested Reid and the men in New York began to see the possibilities and how well the scenario slipped into place.

"But why?" Ellison asked, "Women don't usually plot murder like this."

"No they don't, but it's not unknown, as to why? Mmmm now these murders imply a grudge against this type of man. Perhaps revenge for a past rape, its such a violent reaction to these men that the reason behind the crimes does indicate a sexual component. Also, nothing is taken from the victims other than their life so there is not even an attempt to disguise these murders as a motive for robbery…their money, credit cards and expensive possessions were still on the bodies. Furthermore, there is no attempt to cover up the body so there is no suggestion of remorse for the deed," Reid calmly explained.

"But these men didn't have any friends in common and the victims didn't even know each other," Morgan objected.

"I'm not suggesting that they did have any connection with each other, but rather that they represent a certain type of male that the Unsubs are targeting. It is the victim profile that's interesting and indicates a possible motive behind the crimes," Dr. Reid replied and Kingsley mentally smiled to himself, this young profiler deserved his reputation.

"But that's going to make them more difficult to catch?" Ellison added.

"I didn't say that it was going to be easy and whatever the 'trigger', if a sexual crime, it may not even have been reported to the police. But I think we should be looking through the witness reports for women, not men. We should perhaps approach 'Rape Centres' to ask about women who have refused to report rapes to the police but have attended for HIV and STD tests in say the past 6 to 8 weeks. Or for women who have been turned away by the police because of the lack of collaborating evidence making a weak case. Perhaps date rape or the use of drugs…Lets face it; the police are not always sympathetic if a woman is high on recreational drugs or alcohol, especially if the incidents are on campuses or club venues. These will be two young, intelligent and very attractive looking women aged 20 to 25…I doubt much older. These victims felt more in control if they were older than the women they picked up. The Unsubs might also be college dropouts due to the trauma of a sex attack…The Unsubs also have money because these night clubs were expensive and attracted clientele with a certain financial standing…This might also be a factor in the crime. The Unsubs may have been badly used by a man but not treated sympathetically afterwards. However, they also may not have felt comfortable confessing what had happened to them if they feel that women of their social standing don't get sexually assaulted. It's amazing how still the old myth lingers that sexual assaults can only happen to the poorer people."

"But Reid that's a hell of a lot of work… These Rape Crisis Centres are not always helpful to prying eyes if the women themselves are ashamed of how they got into a 'dangerous' situation and how many would admit that anyway?" butted in Morgan.

"Perhaps not to a man, but this is where you use all the intuition of female officers. You start with recent cases because I believe that this is a recent trauma that has acted as the stressor," Reid instantly replied. Kingsley nodded sagely and thought that this sensitive man must have worked with some very capable women while with the CACU.

"So you think we need to go through any CCTV footage for likely pairs of women who are seen with the victims?" asked Kingsley.

"That's a good start. It just might throw up something, especially if they had made themselves known to the victim at the venue and set up a meeting for later with the promise of a possible three-some. These victims haven't been tagged the 'sports jocks' for nothing, so I think we know the type of man we're dealing with. Let me repeat, if I'm right about these Unsubs then they are targeting these men because they remind them, or one of them, as a perpetrator of a possible sexual crime against them."

"But" interrupted Ellison, "If only one of the Unsubs was the victim of rape then why is the other a willing accomplice?"

"Out of friendship or they may be related…sisters or cousins. However, they may have joined forces by just being the victims of an arrogant 'sports jock'. The similar experience could unite them in their shared desire to fight back against the type of men who have hurt them. Rape is a very serious crime that has deep psychological effects for the majority of victims, some of which will carry such scars for life despite counselling. If these women have not reported their experiences to the Police, nor received proper counselling, then their anger towards the men who have raped them could have been turned into vengeance…

Most self-help groups can be enormously supportive to women victims. However, they do not necessarily work for all victims. I think that any women officers helping with this enquiry should be briefed to ask about women who have dropped out of the counselling sessions they offer, or left after attending only a few self-help sessions. Such dropouts will be remembered because most women seek the comfort of other women who are united by the crime against them. However, if these victims are feeling that they want to feel in control of their lives again by 'getting back' against the 'perpetrator' then this could have taken over their lives in a desire for revenge. Those feelings for revenge would have been very strong and may have been picked up by the group leader or others attending a self-support group.

You should also consider that perhaps one or two of these victims were 'practice' targets and the real perpetrators, of the original rape, have now been eliminated. Or that the first two were the 'revenge killings' but, then they got such a thrill of empowerment over this type of man, that they now can't stop and this has led to the present escalation," Reid patiently informed the agents.

"But," interjected Ellison, "If one or both of these women had avenged their sexual assault, wouldn't the rapist have recognised them?"

"Perhaps not if the other Unsub did the luring, and remember these murders occurred near midnight and the victims had all taken cocaine and some alcohol. Consequently, their memories may not have been that sharp even if they had thought there was something familiar about the other woman. Being lured away to a night of further delights by a beautiful woman, and enjoying more time with her, would not have really sounded alarms. These women would appear to be just out for a good time like the victim. The other Unsub could have been the one driving the car, because that would have given these women the power to take the victims to their place of 'execution' and they couldn't, of course, risk using a taxi…." Reid expanded upon the scenario.

Kingsley was impressed with all the ideas that had been put on the table.

"Sounds like we have an interesting profile to work with…No doubt it will get refined as we go along with this but I can see where your thinking is going and, like you say, two good looking women would not be obvious suspects," Kingsley said to the camera.

Morgan shook his head, "I'm still not convinced but as the other profile wasn't helping then I'll go along with this for a while."

Reid sighed but he felt that he would be proved correct if they could find video evidence to collaborate his theory behind these murders. He also knew that this meant the BAU team admitting to the NYPD that their initial profile was incorrect and that they had probably wasted valuable time looking in the wrong direction. Reid could see the look of annoyance on Morgan's face but the other two men seemed to be mulling over the merits of his point of view.

J.J. took advantage of the silence to sum up Reid's profile and was already working out how she would present this to the media who were eager for anything on these crimes. This gave Kingsley the opportunity to witness the easy relationship between this capable woman and the consultant genius.

It was agreed that Reid would be available whenever needed, even from his home. He was more than willing to be the sounding board if they felt they were going round in circles.

"Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees because you are under so much pressure to get results. Talking things through with someone miles away can help you see a path through the dark forest of seemingly unconnected clues," Dr. Reid had said to the away team.

J.J. felt a glow of warmth at hearing the calm, quiet voice giving steadying words of advice. She smiled to herself and thought that Gideon would have been proud to hear his protégé speak to this team and sounding every inch the experienced criminal profiler he was.

Kingsley decided to immediately gather the police officers together and tell them of Dr. Reid's profile. Kingsley would then assign wherever possible female officers to contact Rape Crisis Centres and any self help groups that they might identify. Other officers were to review the CCTV footage for the five night club venues and see if any pairs of women were common amongst those leaving just before, or after, their specific victim. Unfortunately, only the entrances, and emergency exits had full security cameras because the lighting and overcrowding of the venues made it difficult to use indoor cameras to any effect. Therefore, any hope of identifying the women that the victims had danced and drank with were really a very long shot. All the security door cameras had revealed the victims entering and leaving the night club of their choice alone. The police had appealed for women to come forward if they had made any contact with the victims at the specific clubs, but very few had made themselves known and the information had not been very helpful. It was going to be a long and laborious task but it had to be tackled.

Morgan muttered to Ellison that at least they were looking for attractive women.

"You know Morgan," Ellison replied, "Sometimes you disgust me with your attitude to women. Some women are plain looking and can't help being born that way. For me, I go for a woman's whole personality and not the beauty queen look."

"Hey, don't make me sound crass. I'm just saying that it makes the task easier on the eye and eliminates a lot of women as the possible suspects," Morgan immediately responded with indignation in his voice.

"Yeah, Right…So bet you've got a beautiful wife," Ellison answered back not skipping a beat.

"My Angela is gorgeous, and so is our little Juliet, but that doesn't mean I only go for the superficial," Morgan stated defensively.

Kingsley sighed at the bickering he could hear as he approached their assigned desks.

"The pair of you can just stop now! We have an investigation and you two are wasting valuable time. Morgan you can take the 'Curious Yellow' security evidence for starters and you can scan the 'Eagles' one to begin with," Kingsley firmly said eyeing Ellison. "Look for pairs of women leaving in the correct age group around the same time as the victim and, of course, if they appear to have any communication with your victim. If we hit lucky with similar pairs then we can start trying to find if they were regulars and therefore known…If they are 'pairs' common to all five venues, then Reid may be heading in the right direction with his profile."

The two agents decided to keep their heads down and set about the tasks given to them.

Kingsley went back to speak with Jareau.

"Well…Reid is all business," he stated as he re-entered the room that they had used for the link with Quantico.

"Now we keep things really low key with the media. If asked, say that Dr. Reid, the senior consultant psych back at Quantico, has given us some interesting ideas to follow up. But for the moment, we want to keep quiet about these in case the murderer, or murderers, get scared and take flight before we can find them. I suspect, that once they hear that the famous Dr. Reid is on the case that they will fill column inches with his past successes," Kingsley said and smiled with satisfaction. Jareau knew that the media would be chewing on any bones she tossed them.

"Mmm…Yes, they will like to know that Dr. Reid is back at work at the BAU…I should be able to deflect them with that for a while to give the rest of you a chance to follow up the ideas that Spence came up with. I'll have a little media gathering in an hour to throw them this titbit," Her beautiful features lit up with mischief, "It'll give me time to mug up on Dr. Reid's successful profiler work…."

"Just keep them off the scent but send them away happy with the news that Reid is on the case. I'm just grateful that we actually have such a capable profiler helping us," Kingsley replied and looked out of the open door to the intently busy area nearby. The senior agent thought he felt a new sense of commitment from the assembled police team when he had told them that Reid was on the case and had given them a new profile. Kingsley had sensed that the police had not been happy over the lack of success with the original profile and had already picked up on the dissension between the BAU team. The women particularly felt that they now had an important role and the Chief of Detectives was pulling in more female officers to help on that specific line of enquiry.

Meanwhile back in Quantico, Spencer Reid sat nursing his berry red mug. He had already drunk the coffee but the mug still held its warmth. His leg was beginning to ache. Not badly, but enough for him to register the niggling background pain. He could always take pain- killers but he tried not to in case he became dependent upon them. The man decided to try and ignore it by thinking about something else and let his eyes roam over the desert painting on the wall opposite his desk. Reid was quickly drawn in to its strong colours and hidden creatures and his brain began to play….

Dr. Reid had some 'interviews' to fit into his work schedule. The Capital's paedophile ring case still held some unanswered questions. A few of that organisation's inner circle were making noises about talking a bit more, probably in the hope that it would help future parole attempts. The real identity of Vikki was still a mystery…The identified traffickers of young children, who had sold children on to other 'paedophile rings' as well as providing some to the Washington ring, had been arrested but they were not talking about those connections. The case had many tentacles and the CACU was still following up those leads. Many famous people had found themselves disgraced, disowned by their families, friends and employers and were now within the prison system that didn't like paedophiles. None had pleaded 'innocent' once the clear evidence was put before them although many lawyers tried to lessen the sentences by pleading 'special circumstances', with poor health and remorse being the most quoted. The justice system listened but stood firm because it dared not show any form of mercy because it feared the severe criticism of the public it was supposed to serve by up holding the justice of the land. Spencer smiled to himself, he felt proud to have been part of the investigation that had brought down a complicated organisation and so many prominent names. Children had been rescued and some distressed parents who had not had their children returned at least knew the fate, if not always the site of burial, of their beloved child…

Spencer Reid was not complacent and he was sure that there were many other paedophile rings in action in America. These evil rings were all, out of necessity, cloaked in secrecy but his methods might be applied to cases in other states especially in identifying the use of computer technology in such networks. He had given several talks to specialist agencies about the 'network' used by the Capital's ring and had written a book during his most recent sick leave. However, Reid had not put the book forward for publishing yet because the wounds were too raw for those children and their families. But he would use some of the material covered in the various chapters for his future lectures to specialists and would hopefully be able to add to it if the convicted talked some more.

Reid's mind then flitted and wondered how the NYPD took to having a new profile injected into the case. It sometimes happened that new evidence could turn a profile into another direction or refine a tentative idea but he had changed the profile on the current evidence. Suddenly the names and handsome faces of the five victims entered his mind. The first victim had been the blond, clean-cut, lantern jawed, Fraser Mellors. The second, the curly red headed, Adam Tyler, who was followed by the thin faced, grey eyed and black haired, Martin Armitage. These were followed by the recent murders of Keiron Hadlam, whose large blue eyes and perfect teeth dominated his photograph, and contrasted with the serious looking and oldest fifth victim, Daniel Plaine. Plaine's steady brown eyes stared out oozing the seriousness expected of a lawyer who was specialising in corporate law. Then suddenly the man's mind played over, in quick succession, the crime photographs taken of the bodies where they were found. Reid couldn't stop the sense of wasted lives bubbling up from his well of compassion. But then he consciously stopped the thoughts before he lost his objectivity for the case and returned back to Jo's painting.

The consultant was unable to settle and his mind began to dance lightly over several subjects but all his thoughts began to lack depth. However, he now realised what was wrong with himself and it was something that he'd have to just get used to: Reid missed the buzz of actually being with the investigative team. The former agent had thought that it wouldn't affect him so much because he had talked over the possible adjustments, connected with this return to the BAU, with the psych team. However, it was all very well discussing the situation in the abstract but now, he was here and on a case, Reid felt the isolation of the office.

Spencer could hear Max Pentall's calm voice as he recalled the conversation a few weeks previously in Max's office.

"People…the media, law enforcement and agents will expect a lot from you because of the reputation that you have built up, especially since returning from the Hankel case. The Bureau tried you out in different areas after Hankel and you have extended your psychologist training to include assessments of your fellow agents. Then there were the successful interviews with the dying Clark Norton. That book you wrote has become a standard text for students studying criminal psychology and the reviews continue as new books are being measured against your tome. The successes of the CACU secondment have more than justified the Director's faith in your abilities. You are very talented Spencer, but returning to the BAU as a consultant will be a challenge.

Your old department will want you to succeed and you will not want to disappoint. However, you will no longer be physically a member of the 'away' team. You must think seriously about this Spencer, because you will have to accept that part of your success has sometimes been assisted by actually visiting a crime scene. In the past, you have gained knowledge by cues from the victim and witnesses and even soaking up the atmosphere and work relationships of the LEO's you were working with. As a consultant, based at Quantico, you are going to lack some of that feedback that you have grown accustomed to. You are used to incorporating all these little threads, at times unconsciously, into your assessment of a situation." Max cautioned the genius.

"Yeah, I've thought about that, but part of my work as a profiler was working on cases sent to us; the 'profile requests' that are the 'bread and butter' of the work in the BAU. Then we just have the details of the cases sent to us and we individually work the profile from that data. So the consultant work will be similar, although I will be in communication with the 'away team' so I can clarify any queries I might have with them," Spencer had confidently replied. However, the reality was harder and Max was right, he had taken certain things for granted when away with the team.

Spencer now wished he was in New York with Kingsley and just hanging around the police department, looking at the crime scene photos and talking to the officers involved, that would have given this crime a more intense reality. Spencer sighed, that was the crux of the matter; this detachment was strange when the crime itself was considered worthy of national news status. He knew that in New York everyone would be working flat out on the ideas he had given the team but he was now out of that loop of the action. Consequently, Dr. Reid decided to head home in the hope of domestic distractions and before his leg began to bother him for the drive.

Thirty minutes later, Spencer Reid pulled up the Lexus in his driveway. He loved this house; both he and Jo felt it was ideal for them the moment they had seen it and, above all, it had the added advantage of still being in Alexandria. Spencer had not sold his apartment but had put it in the Fairfax Estates portfolio, where it was earning him a nice income that he put in a separate account. He secretly thought of this account as the 'college' fund for the baby, but he also knew that he was very fortunate to have the Petersen family that was more than eager to spoil yet another grand child.

Spencer followed the enticing smell to the kitchen. Jo was carefully sliding a freshly iced lemon drizzle cake on to a large plate.

"You're not allowed this until tomorrow…It's for Mom and Marilyn who are coming for lunch before they have a charity meeting at the hospital," Jo stated without turning to greet him.

Spencer shrugged, but he was sure that there would be other freshly baked delights to be enjoyed with some coffee. He opened the cupboard to reach for some Kenyan coffee beans.

"I bet you've been drinking coffee all day. How about some tea instead?" Jo said and her husband picked up the exasperation in her voice. Her apparent snappy mood was partly caused by tiredness and the fact that she wasn't keeping down much food at the moment.

"Yeah, you're right…Would you like some with me?" he asked solicitously.

Jo looked up and smiled, "Only if its 'Red Bush', it's my favourite at the moment."

"OK." Reid quietly shelved his desire for caffeine and reached for a pale green tea caddy with grey African elephants marching around the cylindrical tin.

"So did you get to see Dr. Forte today?"

"Oh yeah, he was working through his back log, from Tuesday, but he still found the time to personally conduct the sonogram."

"Ah, so what are we having?" Spencer asked cheerfully.

"Don't know… I told him that I only wanted to know that I was carrying a healthy child and he said that everything looked fine. Blood and urine tests are fine so all's normal…right down to my present state," she added ruefully. "And no I didn't ask for a picture…the details would be too good and you'd know what it was."

Spencer wasn't really surprised by Jo's attitude because, since the earliest days of their relationship, she had always said that she couldn't understand couples who wanted to know the sex of their baby as soon as possible. To Jo, all that mattered was that a baby was developing normally. But she had conceded that the situation was different if there was a family history of a sex related inherited disease. Spencer mentally shrugged at least Jo was being consistent in her beliefs.

"Have you managed to keep anything down today?" he asked sympathetically deciding not to show any personal disappointment in not knowing the sex of the baby.

"I don't count the plain crackers for breakfast and the ginger biscuits for elevenses because I lost those. I did have some steamed cod with a plain salad at lunchtime that stayed down but it was rather bland. I'm going to try some skinless chicken breast tonight. I'll bake it in the oven while I cook yours in that spicy tomato sauce you like…."

"Sounds good," he replied, but he was grateful that Jo was not expecting him to join her on her present 'plain' eating regime. He poured the boiling water over the large tea leaves and replaced the lid on the blue and white striped teapot. It would take a few minutes to brew so he reached for bright rainbow striped mugs, rather than the cups, thinking that Jo probably needed the liquid because she'd been sick earlier that day.

"You had a good day?" she suddenly asked more cheerfully.

"I got formally sent back to the BAU, so I'm now really installed in my office."

"Nasty case?" Jo asked moving towards him and Spencer welcomed the warmth of her arms wrapping round his slender form.

"Yeah…the New York one…with those young men getting shot in the back of the head," he answered softly breathing in the faint lingering herbal smell of her shampoo.

"But you're home early…are you all right?" she asked and Spencer sighed at this woman's sixth sense where he was concerned.

"There wasn't anything else I could do there, they can contact me at home if need be."

"But you didn't linger to socialise a little and get used to the new set up there?" she probed sensing there was more to this.

Spencer sighed, "My leg was beginning to ache so I headed home in case the stump began to throb while I was driving back," he admitted and found Jo's bewitching black eyes searching his face for signs of pain.

"I'm alright, but I've done a lot of psych assessments these past two weeks for Max…It meant driving in at rush hour everyday and a lot more walking around the psych department than I realised was involved. It was great to be back at the BAU, but the stump pain reminded me that I'm still healing while getting used to full days at work. It all means a lot more movement than I realised. I took so much of my usual rushing around for granted before and now I realise that I've still got to build up my stamina," he confessed and hugged her a little closer. "I'm OK really, I just wanted to get home to hear how things went for you with Dr. Forte."

Jo hugged him in return but she wasn't totally convinced because Spencer seemed unsettled about something. She hoped that he would talk about whatever was disturbing him later so she decided not to press the matter.

"Let's see if the tea's brewed…" she suggested and suddenly Spencer was bereft of her closeness.

Spencer sank onto the comfortable couch in the 'family' area of the large kitchen and let his eyes roam over the shadowy garden. Jo came to join him cradling her own mug and enjoying its contents.

"So are you happy with the profile you gave the team?"

"Yeah…its different to one they had been working with so I guess my reputation hangs in the balance as this is my first case as the consultant," replied Spencer but again he felt so flat about the case. He drank his tea not wanting to chat any more and suddenly said, "I think I need to play my lute."

Jo watched him carefully rise and make his way with his slightly rolling gait to the lounge. Jo couldn't stop the thought that then bubbled up into her consciousness. She was lucky to have him still alive and holding down a job. However, she wondered how long he would stay in the BAU if that department continually reminded him everyday of the life he had lost. Jo knew that she would be with Spencer where ever he decided to go, but perhaps she was worrying needlessly because it was early days yet and everyone at the BAU were getting used to the changes.

She reflected that Spencer had seemed very happy working as one of Max Pentall's team and was looking forward to more lecturing about profiling and how he'd applied the methods to cracking his cases. He was missed at the CACU and Katie and Danielle had been in contact and they were delighted over the pregnancy. Chris, Faye and their little boy, Ethan, had visited last weekend and the Hotchner's had invited them for Sunday lunch at the beginning of December. They were going to see her parents on Saturday unless, of course, Spencer decided to stay close to home because of this case. This new style of working, as a consultant, was going to be 'trial and error' after getting used to the pick up and put down with Spencer being whisked away at short notice to anywhere in the country. At least Spencer was based at Quantico and he would hopefully see more of his baby's earlier months than Hotch had seen of Jack. Hayley was thrilled that Hotch was around more and seemed to be enjoying making the most of seeing Grace change so quickly.

Jo finished sipping the tea and smoothly rose. She made her way to the counter top and left the mug there before quietly opening the door into the hall, and then the lounge door, so she could hear the gentle tones of the lute. It would be very faint in the kitchen but she'd try to listen while she got on with the evening meal and then she'd slip back into the hall way, and a seat on the stair case, to listen some more. Jo could hear the strains of the contemplative Sonata in G minor by Bach and smiled…Spencer could still play his beloved music; those senseless terrorists hadn't totally destroyed his pleasures in life.

Far away, a young blond haired woman stared at her image in a bathroom mirror. She was thought by many to be very attractive with her oval shaped face and cornflower blue eyes but she knew differently, it was all an act, her real self was a dark, ugly seething shapeless mass of hatred.

End of Chapter 30.


	31. Chapter 31

**The Interregnum: Chapter 31**

**By Helena Fallon**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 1**

The beautiful woman ran the comb through the skilfully styled hair. The light blond hair was fine but abundant and had been well cut to show off these features as it was short and fell softly to frame her oval face. The sound of Beethoven's fifth summoned her attention. It was an old-fashioned ring tone but she'd not found anything better than the ring tone her old nanny had used on her cell phone. She moved swiftly into the living room and reached for her cell phone on the multi veined pale grey marbled top of the coffee table.

"Hi Claire…all set for tonight?" she asked as she flopped down onto the cream leather couch.

"Good, I think 'Delaney's' is ideal…I rang and checked the entrance fee…expensive but then that keeps the riff-raff out as Gran used to say. Yeah, pick me up in 40 minutes but be prepared for some hold ups because of an accident on 12th…Lets go prepared, we might get lucky…See you soon." The woman ended the call and sat for a few moments looking around her light and spacious living area. Her mother rarely used the apartment unless she was specifically in New York for clothes shopping. The older woman was happy putting around golf courses in Georgia and visiting friends who had retired to Florida. Her mother didn't like to be around her daughter…it reminded her too much of the hasty marriage at 44 in the last hope for motherhood. But then she had been disappointed with that experience because the husband had wanted a son and heir and a daughter just wasn't good enough.

The young woman shrugged, she never saw her father because he had quickly acquired a young mistress and a divorce rapidly followed along with a string of sons with the younger wife. This woman had still been a baby when the divorce occurred and had only regular contact with her nanny as a child because her mother didn't like being reminded of her failure. However, her father had been generous towards the unwanted daughter and the divorce settlement had been handsome. Her present allowance gave her the opportunity to mix with the wealthy in the city and her post graduate studies, in the History of Modern Art, was preparing the way nicely for a position in one of the well endowed galleries.

The woman smiled, Claire was doing quite well for herself too. Although Claire was also an only child she had memories of a happy childhood that was shattered by first the death of her father, from lung cancer, and then her mother, two years later, the victim of a drunk driver. Claire had told her about then finding herself, as a first grader, suddenly being brought up by a well meaning, if 'crazy', maiden aunt in Connecticut. The blond smiled to herself; life was so unpredictable but she liked the power she was experiencing at the moment….

The beautiful blond woman rose and walked once more into the bedroom and glanced at her reflection in the full-length mirror. She ran her long fingers over the close fitting dress. It was a very attractive electric blue, with a low empire neckline and the fine silk material fell, from the midriff, gracefully over her figure and stopped a couple of inches above her knees. A gold chain with a single jet stone, cut with a multifaceted surface, drew attention to the low neckline. She wore three gold thin bangles on her left wrist, the middle one was also inlaid with jet stones.

The woman angled her image to push her right hip forward and admired the long and shapely leg. She was a horsewoman and her passion for riding served her figure well. There was no fat but a toned and feminine outline that implied a woman with expensive tastes and oozed sexuality but the blue eyes held a dull cruel quality as she scrutinised her image. 'Yes,' she mused, 'she was looking forward to an evening of fun.'

In Virginia, the dishwasher was completing its cycle and Jo glanced over the kitchen. Spencer had not been very talkative all evening and after their meal had gone to the study to play his violin. She had realised very quickly that this precious part of his father was another piece of the jigsaw of experiences that gave Spencer his strengths and weaknesses.

Jo sighed she felt tired herself but had some figures to check through before giving them to her uncle, tomorrow afternoon. Jo took her brief case and sat at the table with her laptop and opened the relevant file that laid out the estimated costs of refitting an apartment block. It had been in the Fairfax Estates portfolio for 15 years and was one of the earliest properties bought outright by the Bevans to add to their growing rental business. From her brief case she also took out her A4 sized notebook that contained her jottings from the initial survey of the property. For the next hour, Jo checked through her original ideas against the proposed renovation materials that she had meticulously sought out and costed. She liked to think that she did a conscientious job for her good salary even if she did work for family. The Bevans were well aware that the interior designer had been approached several times, over the past few years, by other companies trying to lure her away. Many were very lucrative offers but Jo was loyal to those who had helped her over the years and particularly when her world fell apart with the murder of Sandrine and her own injuries.

Thoughts of Sandrine immediately summoned up the image in her mind of the vivacious friend with whom she'd shared her New York apartment. The two women had been so different in many respects but they had also been firm friends, at that moment in time, despite those differences. Jo still missed Sandrine although she knew that they would have probably gone their separate ways had Sandrine lived because Jo would have sought out the best position for her own career in whatever city. Likewise, Sandrine would have sought out the best community for her own artistic endeavours and Jo suspected that the friendship would have naturally cooled because of their different needs once her studies had been completed.

Meanwhile, in the study, Spencer leaned his spare frame against the desk and looked like he was precariously perched on the desk's edge as he played the second Bach partita. His mind was working on another level as his fingers touched the strings; he made music but he was not consciously thinking about the action. Spencer's mind was full of more pressing thoughts and they centred on the New York case.

He knew that Morgan was not happy with his profiles but he had looked at the case from many angles and it was the only scenario that fit the present clues. Spencer was annoyed with himself because he'd not mentioned the choice of the gun during the 'conferencing' session with the team. The victims had all been shot with a Glock 26, the 'baby Glock' had a barrel that was only 3.46 inches long…A fact, he told himself, that made it a less accurate weapon over distances than the larger Glock 17, that had a barrel of 4.49 inches. However, this smaller lighter pistol was seen by some as a weapon more suitable for a woman to use. It was a smaller weapon because it did not have a double stacked magazine, like the larger gun, and therefore had a thinner butt for the single magazine of just 10 bullets and as a consequence was easier to hold in smaller feminine hands. He recalled how some British security personnel had told him that they favoured the Glock 26 for their women officers.

Spencer drew the bow across the strings for the final time and removed the violin from beneath his chin and placed it carefully on the desk with the bow beside it.

The man sank into the desk chair and stared at the beautifully curved instrument and felt a deep sense of stillness within him. Spencer missed his father but this violin was his link to the closeness they had shared in his boyhood and provided a steadiness and belief in his own abilities now.

'Yes,' his inner self stated firmly in his mind, 'definitely two women, and the closeness for the shot was to make sure that there was no mistake in missing the target.'

He hoped that the security films would identify possible suspects who had attended the different venues on the murder nights. It was going to be a messy legal case because they were likely to come from families with money who would then bring in the best lawyers to fight any charges that might be brought. Afterall, serial killers were not supposed to be comfortably well off and educated, nor were they thought to be women. In the world of victims, females were thought to be the usual target not physically fit young males. He glanced at his watch, it was almost 11.40 and he decided to go to bed because no one had rung back from New York and he reasoned that they must still be working on the film material and follow up suggestions he had made.

Spencer found only the hall light on and realised that Jo had gone up to bed and had deliberately not disturbed him as he was wrapped up in his own world with Bach and the case. The bedroom was illuminated by only a bedside lamp on his side of the bed. Spencer smiled at the thoughtfulness of his wife, who put up with his often solitary way of working, and went about as quietly as possible to ready himself for bed. Once lying down he felt his beloved Jo roll over in her sleep and she placed a protective arm across his chest. Although he knew she was not conscious of her act, he was grateful for the human touch after his dark thoughts that day.

Lights randomly flickered across the heaving dance floor and gave, for a brief moment, a coloured glimpse of the dark surroundings while the music pounded away and drowned out whatever words the singer was trying to convey. It didn't matter to these participants, they just moved in their tiny space to the beat that throbbed around them. An elderly onlooker might have wondered if there were actually 'paired' dancers because none touched deliberately and each dancer seemed locked in their own private world of self-expression. This was the way of modern dancing at such places. The patrons could have a drink at the bar that looked down upon this spectacle and even manage to have some conversation because away from the throbbing mass you could just manage to lean close to hear a few words. However, if you wanted to hear more then you had to move further away to the small tables, at the far end of the venue, each with their dimly glowing light so you again had to lean across the space in order to see the features of your companion.

Nicola leaned in, across the square tabletop and flashed a broad smile at the handsome hulk who had been enjoying a lot of female attention that evening.

"Got anything special planned for tonight?" she asked but the suggestive hidden question was all too evident for this predatory male.

He too leaned forward to match her move and kept his own eyes focused on her wide blue ones, "Only if you're involved," he replied and smiled.

"She gave a slight nod and held his eyes, "I came with a friend called Claire, she's driving so doesn't drink tonight. Do you remember her, she was with me at the bar when you came along?"

Daniel nodded and felt that the evening was definitely becoming more interesting. These two women were very attractive and the other had been a popular dance partner.

"Perhaps your friend has found someone herself?" he suggested.

"That's not how we work. The one staying sober takes the back seat and the other makes the choice for the later part of the evening…" Nicola explained.

"Do you always go out together?" he suddenly butted in.

"We find that it's more fun and we take turns staying dry but we like to share the evening's pleasure after a night out if we find an interested guy…But perhaps you're not into threesomes in a quiet place?" Nicola said and threw down the gauntlet knowing that this man's ego was far too big to pass up such a proposal.

Daniel Willard gave a slow smile as he allowed his imagination to think about the proposal on offer. They were two attractive women and obviously in the right social strata because this venue was careful about the clientele and the very cost barred many New Yorkers. The bouncers were apt at seeing through the pretenders. Here you had to be wearing the designer labelled clothes, the correct shoes, the real jewellery and that included a good watch and not a fake. Outsiders muttered that New York women could quickly identify a fake and kept their distance of the obvious pretenders. However, the people who policed the entrances to the more select venues knew about that invisible air of quality that people with the correct education and good finances didn't consciously think about. America liked to think itself a land of opportunity, and indeed it was for anyone prepared to work hard, but there were still the hidden barriers associated with having attended the 'right schools and colleges'. Then you had to factor in the importance of a prestigious place of work and getting to know the right people to smooth your future career and social circle.

"So how do you two arrange this?" he pressed.

"You came by taxi?" she asked lightly and the man thought that her blue eyes twinkled in a teasing manner despite the poor light.

"Yeah, then I can drink and party," he replied softly but Nicola was good at lip reading.

Nicola nodded and kept her smile in place. She had thought her observations were correct, he had disappeared earlier towards the gents rest room following a guy who had a reputation for being able to supply just the right amount of coke to give you a bit of a lift for the evening. She never touched drugs, not after the last time, and she wanted from now on to be in total control of her actions. Nicola leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table so she could lean even further across towards him. This action also meant that the dim table light caught her plunging neckline that was emphasised by the black jewel just touching her cleavage.

The woman was aware that the man couldn't stop himself looking down at the plunging neckline because she knew how to dress to be sexually attractive and had chosen this outfit deliberately.

Daniel suddenly realised that he had been staring a little too long and looked up into bemused eyes.

"Well if you like what you see, then you can join me in back of the car for the drive home," the silky voice wrapped around him and it was as if the general background noise of the venue was reduced by the spell she was weaving. He even thought the sharp lemony perfume she was wearing was feeding into the whole atmosphere.

"Where's home?" he asked trying to sound interested beyond his basic lust.

"A safe place in a nice part…But we've parked the car a couple of blocks from here because we arrived later than we'd planned and all the safe spaces close by were taken. We'll leave about 11.30 and you can leave about 5 minutes later. Just turn right out of the door and then first left and walk down that side street. We'll pick you up from there because it's easier than trying to stop just outside this place …other drivers get so impatient at night when you're picking up people."

"You sure Claire will agree to this?" he asked making sure in his own mind as to what was on offer.

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it," she said holding his eyes and daring him to keep to the venture.

"We can have some fun while Claire drives and then, when we are in our quiet place, we can share you a bit…We like good looking fit men because they tend to have the stamina for an evening of fun," she purred in his face.

Daniel was not a man to turn away from a good proposition and this woman was obviously no innocent, nor was her friend if they were regularly into threesomes. The thought excited him and he wondered what the time was.

"Well, lets see how long I've got to wait?" he asked. But before he could reach down to check his wristwatch, Nicola's right hand was suddenly pushing up his light jacket's sleeve and the illuminated dial shone out…

"You've got 20 minutes to wait before Claire and I will be ready to leave and get the car," Nicola purred and let her index finger slowly draw back towards the hand. The finger then continued to lightly trace the man's hand along to the fingertip of Daniel's left index finger.

Daniel was transfixed by the tantalising skimming touch and felt his heart begin to beat faster with the anticipation of being closer to this shapely woman.

"Hi there!" another voice broke the moment and Daniel looked up to see the slightly smaller and dark haired Claire beside her friend, "Having a good time?" she enquired of Nicola.

"Yes…Claire this is Daniel and I told him that we could give him a lift tonight," Nicola said smoothly and no passer-by would have thought anything more of the snippet of conversation if they had managed to overhear it.

"Hi Daniel, sure no problem about the lift…only glad to be able to help," the deeper voice assured although because Claire was standing he couldn't clearly see her facial expressions.

"I've told Daniel where we'll pick him up. You been enjoying yourself dancing?" Nicola asked the other woman.

"I was until a few others joined in when a little too full of drink and coke. I decided to take a few minutes out while the bouncers removed the most obnoxious ones. Are we still leaving at 11.30?"

"Yeah, the usual," Nicola assured and smiled at Daniel.

Daniel noted that Claire disappeared into the dimly lit venue again.

"You two been friends long?" Daniel asked suddenly wanting to know more about the companions who were going to share the rest of his evening.

"Yeah…similar experiences of life, but I don't like talking about the past, it's the present and future that's really important. I often think that we work so hard that we forget to enjoy the present and Claire feels the same way. That's why when we go out we really like to make the experience last as long as possible. You know its like Cinderella at the ball but she doesn't get home in time and reality takes over. For Claire and I, it's like Cinderella's ball but the magic doesn't end at midnight because we're able to prolong the spell a bit longer. But then tomorrow morning we still have to go back to the day job!"

"Right!" Daniel chuckled, "So what do you two Cinderella's do?"

"I'm writing up my doctorate on the Belgian modernists of the 1930s, but I'll not bore you will the finer details," she replied with laughter in her voice, "Claire is at Law School, she's cynical enough to want to be a divorce lawyer."

"Oh, clever ladies," he replied and liked the thought of the pair of them being intelligent. He hoped that if the evening went well then perhaps there would be other 'magical' evenings with this pair of friends.

"Why shouldn't we be…So what do you do for the day job?" Nicola asked attentively.

"I work in bank security…you know like picking up irregular credit card use when the real card has been scammed."

"Wow how do they do that?" the woman sounded genuinely interested.

"It gets complicated and I don't really talk about the 'hows' to strangers but perhaps when we know each other better I just might bore you one afternoon with the 'hows'," he carefully replied.

Nicola noted his careful avoidance of details. She thought that he was being very cautious despite the amount of alcohol she'd seen him drink, and she was sure he'd taken a little coke, perhaps this man had a higher tolerance than some who dallied with the mix of alcohol and drugs. It might take a little more effort to get this one despatched but his superior arrogance towards his fellow men had marked him out along with his discerning attitude to the women. He only approached women who were very attractive, the type you would see in the fashion magazines, all slender but toned with immaculate makeup to perfect a look even before the 'air brush' was employed prior to publication.

Daniel was intrigued by the woman before him because she was both intelligent and a rare beauty. He could see, even in the dim light of the table, that her skin had only the lightest touch of makeup and was unafraid to take the lead with a beguiling sexuality. This sort of behaviour was unusual at Delaney's. He had often picked up women after an evening here but it had always been initiated by his suggestion to spend the night together. Daniel was still getting used to the fact that this woman had taken control of the situation right from the start. Part of his brain was detached about this turn of events that didn't unsettle him, in fact, he rather liked the experience so far and decided to run with the flow of the evening and see where the promised threesome took him.

Suddenly Nicola was talking to him, her face so very close to his that he could the smell sweetness of the cocktail on her breath.

"I'm going to find Claire. It takes a few minutes usually to collect our coats…well actually they're jackets but there is always a line waiting at the ladies cloakroom…Then we need a few minutes to find our car. Now don't forget, if you want to join us, we'll pick you up in the side street. Turn right outside as you leave the main entrance and then turn left and walk about half way down…Drivers don't like you turning a corner and immediately stopping to pick up a passenger…or are you one of those drivers who stop anywhere they like?" she challenged.

"I try to be considerate too but it's not always possible. I see your point that it will be easier to pick me up from a side road. See you in about 15 minutes then…" he agreed.

Nicola flashed him a smile of perfect teeth and leaned forward and gave him a light kiss on his cheek, "See you soon," she said and was suddenly gone.

Daniel raised his left hand to touch the spot where she had touched his skin with a tantalising lightness that held a promise of a interesting evening of closeness to come. He leaned back into the seat and let his mind wander over the last few minutes. He liked to think of himself as a man who enjoyed sex and a pretty woman was always a bonus to the pleasure, but sometimes even he felt that he would like a relationship with a little more depth than the purely physical one. There were well-educated women to be found having a night out like him but they didn't want a deeper relationship because that meant a more exclusive one. He wondered how his parents had ever met and decided to marry because his generation seemed to be hell bent on just enjoying life at full pelt and not committing themselves to anything with permanence. The only thing they all wanted with a certain amount of permanence was a job with money, well at least he had that and it had good prospects for the future too.

Daniel mentally shrugged, he thought that he was getting too serious about life and he ought to just enjoy the evening for what it had on offer. It had been a long time since he'd been involved in a threesome…His memory suddenly lurched into search mode and he was reminded of events as a 19 year old and an end of year party. He and his fellow rowers had found themselves with some nice girls at a local club. They all ended up at Gary's place in a general partner 'swop' for the next eight hours or so…He remembered the redhead called Jackie and then he found himself with Kevin's girl…a long legged Barbie who liked to be in control and on top. Daniel vaguely remembered going to bathroom and afterwards finding himself in the arms of Nigel's dancing partner of that evening, but he couldn't remember her name now, and then he'd been woken up by a 'Cher' look alike who told him that she was breakfast. He smiled at the youthful memory, it had certainly been a night of excess but then all those concerned knew that it was just a bit of post exams fun with no strings attached. Since then he had stuck to one girl an evening and he'd even had a few girlfriends who had lasted several months and one almost a year. He'd met Georgia soon after he'd started his job at the bank but that relationship had fizzled out when he had got bored with the routine. For the most part, he liked the excitement and lack of expectations of a one-night stand especially when the day job could be so demanding.

Daniel glanced at the watch and pushed himself up, he decided on a visit to the gent's rest room before leaving. He had bought a couple of condoms with him but with two of them he thought that he'd better be prepared for the ladies.

Claire sat in the driver's seat with her shoulder purse lying on the seat beside her. She reached across to the glove compartment and removed the compact looking gun and slipped it smoothly into her purse. She picked up the purse and carefully slipped the long strap over her head so that the thin white leather strap fell across her body and the purse itself fell to the right side of her. She could feel the weight hidden in the purse but it was not unbearable and dismissed any thought of removing the purse until later. Claire liked to have her purse in place before starting the car and she reached down with her right hand and lifted the purse into her lap so it would not drag around her neck and perhaps cause a red pressure mark.

"All set?" Nicola asked from the back seat.

Claire smiled into the mirror, "Yes, everything is in place, we just need to pick up our guy…Are you ready to keep him happy back there?"

"Yeah…but I bet he brings his own condoms…Mommy brought him up well and to be considerate…" Nicola's voice took on a mocking tone and Claire giggled from the front.

"Now, now, you're the one who's going to get some physical action…I have had to remain sober so I can aim straight."

"Claire you had the fun last time," Nicola reminded the driver.

"Well, we didn't get very far other than a bit of a grope…I think that guy had snorted more coke before leaving to meet us and it didn't go in his favour for his actual performance. God, I do wish men realised that drugs don't necessarily help…"

"Viagra does," Nicola interjected.

"Look these guys are young enough not to have impotence problems," Claire counted.

"That's not necessarily the case…Young men can have problems with erections if they are under stress or have self confidence problems."

"Nicola! You been reading the agony columns again…I always thought that you arty types were very liberal with the drink, drugs and sex."

"Now that's just stereo typing! Not all artists leap into bed with their models or any passing female…or male, come to think of it," Nicola said from the back seat. She suddenly thought how many gay men and lesbians were in her college circle, but they tended not to flirt with the straight members on the course.

"Well, your choice seemed quite taken with you and that's all that matters for tonight. I'd seen him kissing and fondling a few women on the dance floor, so any of our DNA that might be found on his body we can claim came from such an encounter."

"Don't worry, I was careful to choose a man who had been a bit physical and with what looked like the usual loose women, some of them were behaving like little whores despite the money. I saw the youngest Wheyland girl having a cuddle in a corner on route to the ladies room. I swear she was wrapped round him like a limpet. At least we're a little more discreet and the windows of this car are black anyway…now that conveniently stops prying eyes!" Nicola said confidently.

"Here he is…perfect and no other vehicles in the street," she said to Claire who pulled the car in line with the target.

Nicola opened the door. "Daniel…" she called and the unsuspecting male smiled warmly and quickly strode over to take up the invitation.

"See, I told you we'd find you," whispered Nicola and reached out to explore the man's torso beneath his jacket as soon as he settled onto the back seat.

Daniel soon forgot about the other woman driving and concentrated on the woman who was now beneath him on the soft leather seat. She had already positioned cushions for her head and shoulders so the armrest in the door would not get in the way. It took only a few minutes to realise that she had conveniently removed unnecessary clothing before he had got into the car. The short silky dress was suddenly around her waist and he was lost in exploring her mouth and breasts and then he was between her legs. Daniel dimly thought that she must have done this several times because there was no awkward jabbing from limbs being in the wrong place and she was sure of her self and her needs.

He moaned and tried to take some control of the situation.

"You got a condom in your pocket," she whispered and then nipped his ear lobe.

"Mmm…" he managed as he reluctantly began to fumble in the right hand side jacket pocket.

"Good…now let me…" and he did as she commanded.

Claire concentrated on the road. She had taken the back seat last time but that guy hadn't been able to perform. She felt a bit cheated, although he had promised her that he was better in bed as he found the back seat a bit cramped for his action. Claire had re-assured and let him fondle her some more but she remembered to wipe his hands clean with a baby-wipe after Nicola had shot him. But that had all been after they had got out of the car and were taking him for some 'outside fun' before the inside variety. It was amazing just how simple and trusting men could be when they were blinded by the thought of sex. She could hear her friend's breathing speeding up in the excitement of the physical pleasure and the man groaned, lost in his own basic needs. It was suddenly all over and the back seat went quiet while the two let their bodies adjust back to a normal rhythm. Claire decided to drive around a bit more so the pair could clean themselves up a bit.

Nicola absently stroked Daniel's hair while he seemed to doze a little. He had been quite considerate and she'd actually enjoyed the encounter. The first one she'd taken like this had been too quick to give her any pleasure, but this man was surprisingly more considerate and a good performer. It was a shame that Claire wouldn't get any of the physical action tonight, but they had carefully thought out this procedure and so far it had worked well.

Daniel felt warm and satisfied. He idly thought that if Claire were as good as this woman then tonight would be one to remember this year.

Suddenly Claire's voice cut into the companionable silence.

"Jeez, no parking places…Someone must be having a dinner party or something…I'll have to drive round a bit, I'll try round the back streets."

"Sure, take your time," Nicola replied and then rubbed Daniel's back in slow circles under his shirt and that action made his spine tingle. Then she softly said to him, "We don't mind do we?"

"No, but I think a bed might be a bit more comfortable and we can all get rid of these clothes."

"Yeah…but you seemed to have managed quite well despite all the clothes you were wearing," she whispered teasingly to him.

Daniel was suddenly conscious of his trousers and underpants being below his knees while he still lay between Nicola's open legs and his shirt was half way up his back. He didn't remember taking off his jacket but it didn't matter, all he could feel was Nicola's warm body.

"Perhaps if we've got to your place, we'd better get properly dressed," he added and was close enough to see her smile.

"You're right, we'll probably have a little walk after parking so we'd better look respectable."

Daniel manoeuvred himself to be sitting upright while Nicola swung her legs round to enable herself to do the same.

The man reached down to pull up his clothing and to tuck his shirt into the trousers, and then he bent down to feel for his crumpled jacket on the floor of the car. In doing so he touched her tights and nearby her silky discarded underwear.

"You going to put your panties back on?" he asked striving for a quiet and normal sounding voice although it seemed very loud to his own ears.

Nicola smiled to herself and thought that they had really surprised this one, he was not used to this sort of situation and his self-confidence was not so apparent now. 'Yes,' Nicola told herself, 'she liked being in control of these encounters.'

"No, It's not worth it, Claire will find somewhere to park near the cleared ground. There's going to be a new apartment block…but its only a few minutes walk and then we're home," she whispered, "I'll fix us all a drink when we get in, I think Claire deserves one…"

Nicola reached down and retrieved a garment that Daniel didn't at first recognise but then she slipped on the short black velvet jacket, The woman didn't bother with the buttons, the night was getting nippy but she calculated that she would not be out in the cool air for long.

Daniel nodded and once he'd put his jacket back on he felt Nicola's hand reach into his and she leaned over, "Course we could always have a quickie, there are several dark corners to hide in round here," she whispered her lips almost touching his ear.

Daniel pulled away and then leaned in to whisper into Nicola's ear, "Won't Claire mind?"

"I could promise her that she can have you for the first hour once we're inside if she keeps an eye out … But it could be exciting to do it out here…sort of daring…"

"You've never been that daring?" he asked teasing her.

"No…but there's always a first time," she confessed and spun out the usual line to captivate the victim.

"Won't you feel the cold, it's unusually mild this month but it's after midnight and you're not warmly dressed?" Daniel asked not sure if he was being truly considerate or just testing her resolve to be daring.

Nicola leaned towards him and whispered, "I've got you to keep me warm…We can get a real fire going quickly," she winked at him and Daniel smiled at the memory of their recent activity.

Suddenly the car stopped and Daniel noticed that they were in a dimly lit side street but they were next to a wooden wall. He could just see, in the distance, a sign that would tell the public about the development that would soon be built in this spot.

Nicola squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Hey Claire, I want to try something a bit different before we go in. Will you be look out while Daniel and I

'make-out' in the shadows?"

"Sometimes I think you're crazy," Claire replied in a bored voice, "So do I get anything out of this?"

"You can introduce Daniel to your bedroom when we get to the apartment, Daniel is very good," she assured the other woman.

"Just don't wear him out…I've not had any fun yet," Claire quietly answered.

"Oh I think I'll manage some time with you aswell," Daniel spontaneously added while the thought of this daring suggestion began to take hold in his own imagination. He wondered if either of these two women were into the S/ M scene.

"Come on," Nicola said and took hold of his hand again and led the way to a dark recess across the road from where they had parked. Daniel followed willingly already feeling excited by the prospect of being 'outrageous' in his behaviour.

Claire followed quietly behind, carefully making sure that the street was empty and the only light came from well spaced out street lights and no windows were lit looking out towards the quiet side street. The coolness of the evening was noticeable now and she was grateful for her thick magenta velvet jacket even if it was only waist length. Claire reached into the shoulder purse and took hold of the gun, her soft soled shoes were silent upon the sidewalk. Nicola had her back against a wall. Claire could just see her but Nicola was mostly obscured by the bulk of the man who was already groping her nearest thigh, while the woman was involved with a prolonged kiss. Claire stepped closer, the two were intent on each other, their tongues exploring eager mouths and waited for the pre-arranged cue from her friend.

"Hey baby…let me help a little down there…" she heard Nicola say.

But Claire didn't hear Daniel's whispered reply, "Not yet," as he shifted position.

Claire meanwhile had smoothly positioned the gun, with a steady two handed grip, a few inches away from the back of Daniel's head and squeezed.

But at that same moment Daniel had unexpectantly moved his head to give attention to the woman's now exposed breast and, as a consequence, the bullet missed him but hit Nicola in her face.

Claire didn't think about the next action, it was as if she was a robot, she just lowered the pistol to take in the stunned target once more and fired…one, two, three times…

It was only then that her brain registered what she had just done and flight took over. Claire knew that she had to get away. The gun was swiftly replaced in the shoulder purse as she ran back to the car. Claire had already brought out the electronic key from her jacket pocket, she aimed and heard the comforting bleep, and within seconds the car was moving. The fleeing woman headed northwards towards Westchester and the safety of her town house.

In the immediate neighbourhood that she had just fled, the residents in their loft conversions and renovated apartment buildings were disturbed. A single shot in the night could easily be dismissed by sleepy minds as a car backfiring but several, in quick succession, and half-awake residents began to feel uncomfortable. A number of these disturbed sleepers rang 911 to express their suspicions and a patrol car was sent to investigate the area.

Matthew Kingsley was awoken from a light sleep. Years of FBI work had conditioned him to wake quickly and he reached efficiently for his cell phone that was always placed to his right on the nightstand of any room he was in. His brain processed the details that the Chief of Detectives was telling him. The Chief was unsure about disturbing him because a young couple had been shot. The man apologetically continued stressing that the crime could be totally unconnected with the serial murders but it was the right sort of area and the victims were well dressed and the personal belongings of the man had not been taken. Kingsley said he'd join him at the scene and within 5 minutes was driving towards the address, it was almost 1 a.m.

Kingsley had not wanted to disturb the rest of the team but if the Unsubs were escalating and now killing couples, then the profile Reid had given them, only hours ago, could be wrong after all their high hopes.

Claire felt shaky has she drove, on almost deserted roads, northwards out of New York. This is what they always did after such night out. Nicola should be in the back cleaning herself up now. Nicola should be using baby wipes to clean off any of the blood and brain splatter from the killing. She would also carefully wipe her whole body with baby wipes to remove any DNA traces and semen. Then she'd slip out of the clothes and into the spare dress that had been carefully folded in a bag and placed on the floor of the front passenger seat before they had set out for the evening. The spoiled dress would then be placed into the bag, along with the dirty wipes and condoms and, once at the town house, it would be placed in the living room wood burner to destroy any evidence. They would then each go to their rooms and shower away properly the evening's activities. The car would later be thoroughly cleaned in the morning after a refreshing night's sleep and the women would discuss the previous evening while about this task.

Claire kept glancing into the mirror, she wanted desperately to see Nicola but the back seat remained stubbornly empty. Claire felt her mouth was very dry but she was not able to summon up any spittle to lubricate it. Meanwhile, she gripped the driving wheel a little tighter in an attempt to control her shaking hands. The woman consciously blocked her memories of the past hour and concentrated on the task in hand. Claire knew this road well and silently prayed that she could get home without drawing attention to herself so she was careful to keep within the speed limit and was a model driver for the whole trip. She kept re-assuring herself that this was all normal behaviour, it was the very route they always took after a special night out. If they had failed to pick up the right man, then she would have dropped Nicola off at her apartment before taking this homeward route.

The electric garage door opened up and triggered the internal light for the garage area. She switched off the engine and sat while the garage door closed. Claire just sat in the driving seat shaking; she held her hands together and rested them in her lap, trying to think what she had to do next. She kept asking herself what would Nicola have done if she had been the shooter and the evening had gone wrong like tonight. Her brain was reluctant to function and for several minutes she was numb; her mind a blank and her body trembling with cold and shock from the night's unplanned events. Claire was certain that Nicola was dead. She'd not checked but she'd been shot in the face at close range…It just wasn't fair, it wasn't suppose to happen…the guy wasn't supposed to move his head. It was all Nicola's fault for giving her the arranged signal…She did all the things they had planned to the letter so this mess was all Nicola's fault.

Finally, she thought that she ought to clean up the car and get rid of any evidence of Daniel and Nicola from the back seat. Her legs felt wobbly as she got out of the car but she willed her body to work and opened the back passenger doors to inspect the mess. It could have been worse she told herself, she had not shot anyone on the back seat but there were tights, panties, and a discarded condom on the floor that definitely needed to be burnt as soon as possible. Then she needed to vacuum out the back and wash it down with detergent, she didn't think that she needed to use bleach because no blood was involved.

Claire caught sight of the blood spatter on her own dress and fumbled out of it and reached for an old coat that was hung up and used when gardening on cold days. She stopped and changed her mind. Claire reached for the baby wipes instead and Nicola's change of clothing from under the passenger seat. Her flesh prickled with goose pimples but she cleaned herself down with the wipes and then slipped into the black dress that Nicola had packed. It was a little too long for her but she felt that she ought to start clearing up the mess. The woman placed all the clothes and wipes she'd discarded into the carrier bag. Claire felt a little calmer when her inner self told her that this was something she would have done normally except her change of clothing was kept in the car boot. Usually the driver would clean herself and change once in the garage while the temptress would already be starting on cleaning out the back of the car. 'Both of you usually destroyed the clothes you had worn,' her fevered brain re-assured her…

Claire suddenly remembered all the crime programmes she'd watched and the trashy crime novels she had read over the years about how forensic evidence had tied the murder to the crime scene. It was then that she realised that she also had to get rid of the gun too and pretty soon.

Her brain slipped into gear. Nicola would probably be identified by her dental records and she didn't think Nicola's fingerprints were held on any data base but her purse was still on the floor of the car and that needed to be burnt as well. Claire reasoned that she could always say that they had picked up a guy that Nicola had been dancing with at the club. Those two had decided to spend the night together so she'd dropped them off as requested and came on home alone. Claire even thought she could say that they had been making out on the back seat and she'd not liked that behaviour in her car and that would explain why she had cleaned the back seat if the car was later examined.

Claire realised that she couldn't deny being with Nicola for part of the evening because all the New York clubs had security footage of the clientele at least entering and leaving their premises. It had been for this very reason that they had been careful with their story about collecting the parked car and picking up the victim for the night from a quiet side street nearby. Even if this was noticed it meant that the girls could say that they had given the guy a lift but had then travelled on home alone. Nicola had been very careful that they had to have sound alibis and a credible joint story should they ever be questioned about the men whom they had killed. Nicola had even made her practice such an interrogation. They had studied the best way to lure the men they had chosen but Nicola was the one who was the leader in the enterprise and now Claire felt overwhelmed by having to think this all through on her own.

It was 1.50 a.m. but Reid was alert on answering his cell phone on his nightstand.

"It's Hotch, Reid," the caller spoke softly and the tone was apologetic, " I've had a call from Kingsley who went to see another murder scene, slightly different from the others but certain elements indicate that it could be the same Unsubs…."

At 3.50 a.m. the private jet had special permission to land and there was a Bureau vehicle waiting to take Dr. Spencer Reid to the New York Police Headquarters to meet Matt Kingsley and the Chief of Detectives.

"Good of you to come," Kingsley greeted as the man strode into the Police Headquarters, "I asked Hotch for you but I also know you could have refused…It's just that this is going to be a hot potato when the news breaks. So far the media, who have picked up on this, think it was a jealous lover getting rid of the cheating pair," he said softly as they headed for the elevator together.

"But you and the Chief of Detectives are not so sure…" Reid softly pressed.

"No, my gut feeling is that this is the same killer but this time it went wrong," Kingsley replied and hoped that he'd not brought this consultant out on a false trail.

"Why?" Reid asked as he sat down in the office that had been allocated to the team. Suddenly a black woman detective arrived with three large coffees from the local 'all night diner'.

"Ah, thanks! This is Detective Garland, and she's been working on the case and was at the crime scene too," explained Kingsley and the sturdy middle-aged woman smiled a greeting to the newcomer.

"Detective, this is Dr. Reid who agreed to come at very short notice," Kingsley added knowing that this would soon circulate amongst the officers working the case with them.

Dr. Reid gave Garland a boyish smile and muttered in a friendly way, "Thanks, I need this."

"So you both feel something went wrong?" Reid asked giving his attention to the woman and Kingsley gave her a slight nod of encouragement to answer his enquiry.

"Well…I was the first detective on the scene," she began, "The man, Daniel Willard, was the right age group and race. He wore expensive clothes and no robbery appears to have been involved. Like the other victims he'd been to an expensive club for the evening because he still had the 'stamp' on the back of his left hand. Willard could have met his killer while at Delaney's and the woman victim also had the Delaney stamp…so that would confirm our thinking about how the Unsubs pick up their victims. But this time, it wasn't a single shot to the head but three… and at a different angle, with one bullet to the head and two in the top of the spine. The woman matched the right age group for the Unsubs, blond, and I bet very pretty before being shot in the face, just between the beautifully shaped eyebrows. But it was the position of the bodies, they were in a heap with the woman underneath, her left breast looked deliberately exposed from her plunging neckline and the velvet jacket was undone and pushed aside to expose the breast. The man could have been having a good grope especially as the dress revealed a lot of her thigh and the fact that she wore no tights or panties. The man had fallen to her left but lower than the woman's head, I thought from the position of the dress and him that he could have been sucking at her nipple when the shots were fired," she reported. " I thought the man could have moved position at the wrong time…the shot missed him but hit the beautiful temptress. Then the accomplice fired in panic to kill the original victim," she finished and was fascinated at how young this famous expert appeared close up and how he seemed to give her his whole attention. It was not at all disconcerting because he seemed to have a friendly and gentle demeanour.

Reid shook his head and added, "Did the woman have any identification?"

"No… No purse was found near the body but they'll be a thorough search of the area in the morning. But I don't think this was any ordinary whore because this woman was wearing a designer label dress, easily a thousand dollars of silk. It's also not an area for street sex, this is basically a nice residential area and again it was near a site cleared for development, just like the others had been. Its quite an expensive area and doesn't usually have trouble like this on its doorstep. Like one of the callers said, one 'shot' sound you could dismiss as a car backfiring but not three or four in quick succession…The informers all told the same story about being woken from sleep and all were usually light sleepers." Garland reported.

"Just like the other murders, the single shot was easily explained away because they lived in safe areas," said Reid softly and nodded her way in agreement of her assessment of the scenario.

"Exactly, I just don't see this as a pimp taking out one of his girls who had broken away either. Usually they destroy a woman's beauty but they don't take out the 'John' aswell…So you see that's why we're edging our bets here and wanted the BAU to take a look too," Garland added and then sipped her coffee and watched the two men.

Garland liked Kingsley and he had earned the respect of the other officers quickly. She was intrigued by the newcomer; his name was well known amongst the police and some officers even spoke of previously meeting the quiet and highly intelligent profiler when he had been a BAU agent. Garland had listened yesterday to these officers sounding relieved that this guy was now on the case and that it was a great shame that he wasn't physically with them in the city. She now wondered how everyone would react when they got in later to find that the great Dr. Reid had been flown in by private jet to personally face the anger of the Chief of Police and the Mayor. Those two were both eager for results because of the pressure they were under from influential city names aswell as being very aware that bad publicity didn't help their hopes of re-election when the time came round.

But Garland also remembered seeing Reid on the television news when the Washington paedophile case broke. She now saw that the large puppy dog eyes, that dominated his face, had their own old and searching quality and these assisted in giving the impression of a quiet authority as he perched on the corner of a desk drinking coffee. Above all, Garland had not expected that he'd be so tall and slender and have such a warm and approachable manner nor a thick wedding ring. She hoped that he had a nice wife because he seemed a nice guy.

"Have the crime photos been developed yet?" Reid suddenly asked.

"The photographer had to be got out of bed, we wanted the best one on this and the guy had also taken the other scenes. I know this carries little wait but even he felt that there was something similar about the murders," Kingsley answered, "I've been assured that he's good but he likes to get his material carefully catalogued before releasing it."

"Boyd's not slap dash when it comes to evidence," Garland added to confirm the agent's words.

"Mmm, quite right too. But you feel that the photos will be here by the time the rest of the team report in?" Reid pressed.

"Oh definitely, I let them sleep over this one, I felt they needed it as they had been working hard reviewing the film footage until late last night." Kingsley explained.

"Anything promising on that front?" Reid asked hoping that some useful evidence was showing signs of appearing to break the lack of hard evidence for this case.

"Morgan was suspicious about a couple of women, but they had to be checked against the security evidence from the other three clubs. I've got a detective from the night shift on that angle at the moment," Kingsley replied a little defensively.

"That's promising then. I know how hard and tedious that 'film' checking can be. Believe me, I've done quite a lot in my time," Reid replied and smiled hoping to take any sting out of any perceived criticism.

Kingsley nodded and sipped his own coffee. He had managed a couple of hours sleep although he was not likely to get a chance to catch up on the lost hours any time soon.

"So Detective Garland, you're a New Yorker who knows the area well?" Reid turned to this experienced officer once more.

"Yes, although I was born in Brooklyn, I have patrolled in the area before I made sergeant. I was singled out as 'fast track' material because of my law degree," she explained.

"Good, I like to listen to the LEOs because often their gut feelings can be spot on…and you think it's the same shooter?"

"Yeah, I feel it went wrong. I mean what if its two women, like you said yesterday, and it was the job of one to be the temptress and the other was to shoot the victim while he was living a little on the wild side. Outside sex on these side streets is out of the usual. People in this area like to show off their living space because it's a desirable address for the professionals beginning to make it on the career ladder. So, like I said, the way I see it is the accomplice squeezed the trigger but at the same time the man moved his head and of course she couldn't stop the bullet…it hit her partner and she then had to still kill the original victim. She fled the scene as fast as she could and is probably trying to destroy all evidence as we speak."

Reid smiled his encouragement, "Yes, that all sounds very plausible. I hope the gun is the same weapon and the bullets are still in the bodies or nearby…then it would give that scenario some nice evidence for a court case."

An older male clerical officer brought a large envelope into the room about an hour later. The two men instantly stopped their chat about the changes that had occurred within the BAU and the universal relief that Hotch had replaced Erin Strauss. She had not liked her removal from the influence of Quantico and resigned from the Bureau. It appeared that she was now teaching at Brown although Spencer personally thought that she would soon get bored with college lecturing because she needed something where she could manage people on a grander scale.

Kingsley and Reid pinned the photos up and stood back to observe the record of the murder scene.

"Willard didn't stand a chance, nor the woman…I still feel that Garland has probably read this one correctly, it all went wrong…" Reid said softly staring intently at the position of the crumpled bodies on the ground.

"Forensics say it's the same calibre of weapon, but we still need their confirmation about a matching bullet or preferably four. Ballistics is eagerly awaiting a bullet casing either from the scene or the autopsy. But you know how slow these procedures can be when you want some collaborating evidence," Kingsley shrugged his broad shoulders and gave Reid a tired smile.

"Yes, I still feel it's the same woman but we need the hard evidence and preferably before my breakfast with the Mayor in a few hours time. It would give me more to talk about at the news conference aswell," confessed Reid.

"Same sort of area for the murder…sites earmarked for expensive developments but in good areas where the contractors don't expect trouble from the low life," Reid said thoughtfully as he scrutinised the images.

"Yeah…these Unsubs know their city and only use areas that they feel comfortable with. Like Garland said, areas undergoing 'regeneration and gentrification' and with already a good stock of desirable addresses. Wouldn't be surprised if they don't live in at least one of the 'crime scene' areas or have friends whom they often visit. These murders have been carefully planned, especially the execution site because they don't want to appear out of place so they don't arouse suspicions even if seen"

"Exactly!" Reid enthused, "These Unsubs have an expensive enough car not to be out of place, but if they had taken it to a more run down area of the city then people would have noticed and even targeted them as victims for robbery and possible assault."

" Jeez…especially as they're women …some druggies would see them as easy prey," Kingsley added.

"The club involved has a good reputation?" Reid suddenly asked.

"Like the others that the victims attended, expensive to get in and they only allow the right sort of clientele…Like you say, these Unsubs fit into this exclusive lifestyle and catching them is going to ruffle a lot of fancy feathers..."

"Well, if we're right then it will be just the one Unsub and we don't know which way she'll jump if she did kill her accomplice by mistake. Of course, she could have shot her deliberately, deciding that she no longer wanted the competition," Reid sounded out the idea that he'd been thinking about on the flight.

"You're saying this could continue but without her accomplice, surely the Unsub would have to change her MO?" Kingsley's tired brain began to churn away at the suggestion.

"She could be evolving, the space between the murders has lessened…" suggested Reid.

"How do you think she might work on her own?" Kingsley probed.

"I don't know…I was just considering the possibility, perhaps attacking couples or not even playing the temptress to lure the victim but just stalking them as they return home. I'm hoping that what happened tonight was a mistake and that the stress for the surviving Unsub will cause her to make mistakes. Ideally, once we have identified the female victim we will be able to speak with her friends…Does this victim look like either of the suspects Morgan identified from the security footage?"

"Well she's blond and the hair is a similar cut but it's a popular unfussy style. The guys are trying to get the Delaney footage from tonight but the club had closed by the time the officers got there and they are following that up by trying to track down the manager…"

"He wasn't at home?" asked Reid mildly.

"No and his partner wasn't too pleased to be woken up and that he wasn't back home yet."

Spencer didn't bother to reply; he just didn't like the behaviour of some men. Reid just couldn't think of an occasion that he'd be unfaithful to Jo and if he ever was and she found out…Hell, the consequences of such a stupid move would alter his life. He'd probably lose very good friends in Craig and Melinda, he'd loose the respect and love that he felt from the Petersens and the Bevans and it would be devastating for his beloved Jo. He looked up to find an understanding expression on Kingsley face…

"My wife would kill me…so I don't even think it!" Kingsley confessed.

"I just couldn't…I have a lovely wife and her small family have gathered me into to their world. It's something I hope that I'm never tempted with," replied Reid honestly.

"You and me…we got consciences and we made a vow to our partners…It's just some people don't understand the beauty of trust and wonder of 'an exclusive' relationship. Even after 12 years of marriage, I worship my wife like I did that very first day I said my marriage vows…Now that's old fashioned…"Kingsley said, "but it works for my marriage."

Spencer Reid smiled warmly, "I can't claim the years you have but Jo and I have a mutual trust and wouldn't have married without that knowledge that we were in an exclusive relationship and that's how we want it."

Kingsley nodded, and his massive smile filled the office with a special glow.

"I think we're on the same wavelength Dr. Reid, and I find that just adds to the good feeling I have about you being with my team here."

The phone cut in to this personal time and Kingsley suddenly became the very efficient agent,

"Kingsley…Good…Excellent. Thank Dr. Norbert for coming in early for us…That's really moved this case along," said the senior agent and replaced the receiver.

"That was ballistics…Autopsy's found a bullet in each of tonight's victims…Both match the other victims…"

Reid's brown eyes shone bright, "So we're right…things are beginning to move in our favour."

"God I hope so," Kingsley said with feeling that told Reid a lot about the pressures that the BAU had been under since arriving in New York.

Detective Garland tapped on the slightly open door and entered when Kingsley nodded his consent.

"Thought you'd like to know, the guys tracked down the 'Delaney's' manager and he co-operated immediately. We've this evening's tapes and they're on the way…should be here in 20 minutes…I'll go through them if you like or do you want to do that?"

"Great news! If you're volunteering Garland?" Kingsley replied with a grin.

She smiled, "I'm still feeling fresh and the adrenaline is running so I may aswell channel it into doing a necessary but tedious task. Besides, I know what the woman victim looked like tonight, as I was the first detective on the scene, so it will be easier for me. I think some of the men get a bit side tracked with the material despite trying to be professional," she ended giving the men a meaningful look.

The men both nodded and she disappeared to get the equipment organised.

"Morgan's a terrible flirt," Kingsley said softly by way of an explanation for Garland's comments.

"I'd been hoping that marriage and fatherhood would curb that …Angela deserves better," Reid replied in a sad and serious tone.

True to her word, Garland tagged the evidence tapes and began to look through the footage from 11 p.m. The on screen monitor logged the time as 23:29 and Garland sat up alert and rewound the image to make sure. She had identified the blond haired woman and 'freeze framed' the image to get a good likeness of her and her female friend. The detective felt the fizz of success pass through her body, it was a small triumph but they now had something more concrete for this latest murder. Garland was praying that these two women were the Unsubs they had been looking for because it would give the enquiry the boost it needed. So far the dead woman's finger prints had not been found on CODIS but this was a good enough picture to put out to the media in the hope of getting her quickly identified and perhaps the public would also recognise her friend. Some six minutes after the women had left Delaney's, Garland saw the athletic figure of Daniel Willard leaving. He turned to his right and walked along but then the camera angle lost him.

It was a little after 6 a.m. when Jennifer Jareau walked into a buzzing work area. She had heard on the radio that there had been a shooting in a usually quiet part of town but she had met one of the detectives, as she entered the Headquarters, who had said that the killing was a 'Jock Murder' gone wrong. She quickened her pace to see if Kingsley was in yet and turned into the office.

"Spence!" she exclaimed in surprise as he was the last person she had expected to be standing there.

"Good morning Agent," he replied with laughter in his voice despite his more formal hello. "I was asked to come when Kingsley thought the double murder had similarities to the case…We've been quite busy, everyone from the M.E. to the Forensic teams have been working overtime on this one and pieces are beginning to come together. Detective Garland has even a good image of the women we're seeking, although the blond one is now dead. I'm hoping that her demise was an accident because I personally don't want the remaining Unsub evolving, because that would mean she would need to change her MO to lure her victim or perhaps she could change to targeting couples. But we're sure of the image because it matches the couple of friends that Morgan was suspicious about, and Detective Frederico has also identified them at the other clubs the earlier victims had frequented on the night of their deaths."

"We have pictures of the Unsubs?" she repeated knowing that this would blow open the case and it was only a matter of time before they would be identified.

"Yes…So J.J. you are going to be crucial at getting together the phone lines and preparing the staff for the set of questions they will need to ask callers," Kingsley grinned at her, "The phones are being organised at the moment."

"Looks like today is going to be busy…" she replied cheerfully.

"Oh yes, I've a working breakfast with the Mayor and Chief of Police…" said Reid and J.J. winced at the sort of meeting that could become.

"It's all right, I've got quite a lot to charm them with but it could have been a daunting prospect, however things suddenly began to go in our favour."

"Take a look at these," Kingsley invited and passed her the images of the two women leaving the Delaney's club the night before and proceeded to fill J.J. in with the events she had missed.

Thirty minutes later, Dr. Reid saw Agent Morgan enter the floor and stop by a very attractive young woman police officer. He sighed at the situation he was witnessing; the woman was hanging off every word and was obviously flattered by the attention that this BAU agent was giving her. Reid had seen Morgan make such moves countless times when he had worked alongside him, but the consultant particularly didn't like this flirtatious behaviour now. Reid also recognised the final missing member of the team, Rob Ellison, also giving his fellow agent a disapproving look from the other end of the room where he had been talking to another detective.

Reid decided to move and as he walked towards Morgan, he smiled and called loudly across to him,

"Hey Morgan! How's the wife and baby?"

The effect was immediate, it was as if a bucket of ice cold water had been dropped over Derek Morgan and the woman suddenly saw him through less rosy eyes.

Morgan looked up at the familiar and unexpected voice.

"Hey Kid… What are you doing here?"

"I'm not a Kid," Reid mildly chided, "Flew in during the early hours, special flight for an exceptional case. You haven't answered my question, how's the wife and baby?" he repeated and stared at Morgan's left hand and confirmed what he thought he'd seen, that Morgan wore no wedding ring. Reid knew that some adults needed to play the flirting game as an ego trip, even if married. However, it was one thing to flirt with your wedding ring in plain sight, so all knew it was a game, but quite another when the actions could be mis-interpreted.

"Angie and Juliet are just fine," Morgan replied forcing his voice to sound unperturbed by the question, but he had noticed that Officer Torbert had moved and her eyes no longer twinkled his way.

"You don't wear your wedding ring?" Reid continued in an innocent way.

"Not when I'm working. I don't want any Unsubs knowing I'm married," he justified and was aware that the bullpen was listening to the exchange.

"Really, Hotch always wore his ring when on duty, infact I've never not known Hotch to be without his wedding ring. Matt Kingsley wears his ring too and I don't think either men would knowingly put their families at risk," Reid responded in a pleasant tone, well aware that those witnessing the scene had checked to see if Reid was wearing a ring.

Kingsley and J.J. exchanged looks.

"So how's Jo?" Morgan belatedly asked to deflect this line of questioning.

"Busy with her designing and probably planning world domination behind my back," the younger man breezily answered and Kingsley chuckled and noticed a number of officers smiled at their desks too. In the few hours that Reid had been in this building, Kingsley had noticed how well this profiler handled people and there was a mutual respect between the LEOs and this consultant.

J.J. caught Kingsley's eye again and nodded with satisfaction. It was good to have Morgan pulled into to line but Reid had achieved this in a non-confrontational way and Kingsley liked that. However, he was glad Dr. Spencer Reid was on his side, because Kingsley sensed that this man was not one to be walked over and that he had a personal code of conduct, and married agents flirting without their wedding rings obviously crossed that line.

The BAU team came together in the office where Kingsley and Dr. Reid brought them all up to speed concerning that night's murder and the present state of affairs. They then went into the bullpen and called together the LEO's assigned to the case, and told them about the state of play, and their assignments for the morning.

" Detectives Kendall, McBride, Lowry and Difalco will be working with Agent Morgan following up the background of the latest victim, Daniel Willard.

Dr. Reid here will be having a working breakfast with the Mayor and Chief of Police after which he'll be attending a news conference, at which he'll present the audience with the images of our Unsubs and a plea for the publics help to identify them. Now hopefully that's going to produce some response, so J.J.'s been briefing half of you to help with the phones, but the other half will be following up the names that crop up several times and seem to fit the profile we've been working with. Remember these women are educated and they have money…Any delving into their lives is probably going to upset a wealthy family somewhere down the line…So we have to be very professional and hold back on the details of the murders we are really investigating. The way we are going to take this is that we are anxious to identify the murdered woman, but we know she had earlier been at a club with a friend. We would like that friend to contact us or any one knowing either of these women, we would like them to ring this special number…." Kingsley informed the attentive group.

Reid and Kingsley invited questions after the up date and the team felt that everyone was suddenly feeling fired up to tackle the identification of the women.

Reid was pleased by how well the morning shift responded and was staring once more at the crime scene photos when there was a tap on the door.

He turned to see a young uniformed officer, "Excuse me, Dr. Reid, but the car is waiting to take you and the Chief for your meeting with the Mayor."

"Ah good, I'm beginning to feel a bit empty…" he replied cheerfully and slipped into his brown corduroy jacket and automatically adjusted the knot of his green and gold striped silk tie as he followed the young man through the bullpen.

J.J. watched them leave, sadly observing the slight limp that Reid now had, but then she smiled to herself; he still wore odd socks and suddenly everything seemed right again, as the image dispelled the tragic memories it was good to see the frightening efficiency of the genius at work.

End of Chapter 31.


	32. Chapter 32

**The Interregnum: Chapter 32 **

**By Helena Fallon **

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Claire sat spellbound by the news report she was watching in her kitchen.

She had not been able to rest. She had vacuumed, washed and dried the inside and out side of her car. Claire had made sure that the clothes she had been wearing were all burnt along with the stuff left on the floor of the car's back seat. She had burnt the cloths she had used for all the cleaning and the kitchen paper towels used to dry the washed surfaces. The woman was relieved that the wood burner was wonderful at devouring almost anything. After all of this activity, she had spent a good 20 minutes under a hot shower furiously scrubbing her body and worrying if she had got rid of the gun residue. Claire kept toying with the idea of trying different substances on her hands to mask any lingering residue.

Once dressed in her jeans and an old painting sweater she had gone back down to the garage and looked through the assortment of paint tins, wood preservatives, linseed oil, and large bottle of white spirit, that she had last used for cleaning her house painting brushes. Claire had enjoyed decorating a couple of the bedrooms herself and was very pleased with the results. She had found an old chair at a garden sale and stripped it down to bare wood and then painted it white for the smallest bedroom and made a seat cushion for it. Nicola was surprised with her home making exploits but couldn't understand Claire's satisfaction at doing some things herself rather than hiring work men or buying a seat cushion from one of the many department stores in New York or out of town Shopping Malls.

Claire now took an assortment of cans and plastic containers over to the sink unit that the previous owner had thoughtfully installed at the back of the garage. She then proceeded to first put her hands into the almost empty tin of glossy white wood paint and meticulously rubbed the paint into her already sensitive skin. The woman was careful in her task and made sure that the nails were well covered. She waited for a few minutes thinking that by letting the paint sink into the hands and fingers that this would mask any gun residue that might be left. Then with sticky white fingers she fumbled with the screw cap of the white spirit and poured this over her hands to help clean the paint off. More detergent and hot water were massaged into her red and painful hands until they were once more paintless.

She now sat on the high stool by the black marble counter top watching the small screen of the television a few feet away. Her pulse was racing and she didn't think it could all be blamed on the amount of strong coffee that she'd drunk in the past few hours. Claire didn't want to think about the night's events, she hoped that the alibi she had been practising would be convincing because the police would eventually be at her door, once Nicola had been identified, and this FBI consultant said that they had photographs of the victims. The man had identification upon his person and this had been verified but they did not wish to release the name until his immediate family had been informed. However, the police were anxious to hear from any one whom could identify this murdered woman….

"Here is the murdered woman, looking happy with her friend, arriving at Delaney's Club last night. Here she is again, with the same friend, leaving the club a few hours later at 11:30. Again both women look quite relaxed and happy. We are also concerned about the safety of this woman friend and would like her to contact us…Please take a careful look. We need to know the names of both of these women. We have set up a hotline, the number is … and will be shown on all newscasts' screen updates serving the New York area." The serious man quietly informed the assembled media. He then invited questions from the journalists.

Claire absently read the legend beneath the speaker, 'Dr, Spencer Reid, Consultant Criminal Psychologist with the BAU based at Quantico…' but she had filtered out the hotline number.

"Do you think the friend has been killed too?" a male voice from the centre front of the media ranks asked.

"We do not know. We only know for certain that the victim arrived and left with the same woman and consequently we have assumed that the women are friends. We are obviously concerned to contact this other woman, primarily to confirm that she is unharmed, but also to discover what happened to the victim once they left the club. I hope that someone is watching who knows the identity of both women and will ring in…

Could I especially address the friend … If you are watching this now…I'm very sorry that you are discovering that your friend is dead from this broadcast but we do need to talk to you so we can begin to piece together the events of last night. I can understand that you are feeling totally shocked at this news and probably watching this broadcast in disbelief…But please get to a phone and ring the number on the screen. You will be treated with sensitivity and patience by specially trained personnel who are waiting to interview you. We are all very understanding about how such devastating news can affect a close friend, or relative, of a victim. But we need your help to catch your friend's killer."

Claire listened to the quiet, but intense, way that this Criminal Psychologist addressed the assembled audience and seemed to stare out from the screen directly at her with large and gentle brown eyes. The plea was just for her…but would he really understand that it was all Nicola's fault…Could she trust herself to ring at the moment? She needed more time to make sure that her story flowed convincingly and some sleep might help her to do that. She reached out and pushed in the off button on the small set. Claire then slipped off the high stool and wearily dragged her tired body up the stairs to her spacious and darkened bedroom.

The woman lay on the bed, her body was aching with tiredness but her mind was racing and couldn't stop replaying the shooting every time she closed her eyes. The other killings had not left her like this; following those she had felt elated and after the ritual cleaning of the car, and themselves, they had gone to their bedrooms to sleep soundly. Neither would get up until midday following a special night out and then over a lazy 'brunch' she and Nicola would talk about their latest triumph and rate the performance of the victim for their sexual prowess and their gullibility.

Matt Kingsley watched the smooth performance of the young consultant and appreciated his handling of the press. He smiled to himself, there were so many stories around Quantico about this man and many who believed he was Gideon's protégé while others would argue that they could see more of Hotchner's influence but, as he watched, Kingsley thought about the powerful Max Pentall. Kingsley knew that Reid stood in two departments but the BAU was eager for his return to them as a consultant. The Director had told Kingsley that Reid had requested that he still be involved in agent psych. evaluations because that was a side where he felt his agent experience could also be harnessed to help others. Kingsley liked Reid and found him easy to talk to and forgot about the possibility of Reid also naturally assessing his team while he was with them. As the team leader, Kingsley did his own assessments anyway and would have liked a more balanced group of agents but that was not how it had turned out. Perhaps he had drawn the shortest straw over the profilers with his team but Jareau was a gem and Reid's willingness to come into this media frenzy and handle them calmly was a great asset. Reid was giving quite a performance and was speaking with such conviction and sensitivity to the missing 'friend', but Kingsley knew the consultant personally believed that the friend had probably committed the double shooting.

Detective Calvert had returned from being a 'fly on the wall' at the 'working breakfast' with the Mayor and Chief and assured the detectives that Reid had charmed his way and diffused the angry tempers of the prominent men in the room. The Mayor obviously felt that the FBI had finally sent their top man and the Chief was sure that this time they would get the murderer. The reputation of Dr. Reid was such that both men were in awe of his abilities and these gifts were only being further confirmed by the news conference that they were now witnessing along with the plea for the public's help.

It was then that Kingsley saw it: why he thought Reid was like Max Pentall. Pentall could melt into the background and be unnoticed but when necessary he was suddenly the dominant personality in the room by radiating his self-confidence and knowledge. But Max didn't need to appear to be the alpha male continuously only when he thought it would get the desired results. The best psychologists are the quiet listeners who gain the trust of those they are dealing with, but they are also the ones who have a steady inner core and know themselves and their weaknesses. The tapes of Reid interviewing Austin Shields were used now for training agents in interrogation techniques. Kingsley had also heard on the agent grapevine that there were agents who hoped that they would be assigned to him for their psych assessment, after a bad incident, because he had been in demanding situations himself. Kingsley further mused that there were also many rumours about the past of Max Pentall but Kingsley didn't have the nerve to ask him just what he did before coming to the FBI…

"Excuse me Agent Kingsley," the female voice broke into Matt's thoughts.

"Sorry, Detective, I was miles away," he confessed as he turned to now give Detective Garland his full attention.

Garland smiled ruefully, they all had moments like that and their private reveries were welcome during difficult cases if only to give the brain a break from going round in circles.

"J.J. said that the calls are flooding in and they have a couple of consistent names so she has assigned two officers to run a computer check for driving licences and one already confirms a likeness for the dead woman. Your people are right, the family have money and Nicola Louise Morgan-Paterson is a Masters student living at her mother's Manhattan apartment."

Kingsley nodded, it was good to know that they have not been totally off target, at least since Reid was on the case. Then suddenly his cell sounded and he noted it was J.J. herself.

"Garland with you?" the soft, but efficient, female voice asked.

"Yeah, This Morgan-Paterson check out?"

"The majority of the callers within 5 minutes …we've had 10 naming her and the area she lived and several gave us her actual address because they're on the same course. They also mentioned the new friend, whom they think is called Claire and is studying law…."

"But no positive I.D. on her yet?"

"At first only a couple of people saying that they think her name is Claire Valliere and a law student but they didn't know her address in the city. However, I've just had one of the tutors at the NY Law School on the line and he was sure that it was Claire Valliere. He was surprised that Claire was seen at a club as he considered Valliere the quieter type and more disposed to an evening at the theatre or a classical concert. He was trying to access the Law School's records from home for us but the link went down as he started. There are 20 Claire Valliere's listed with driving licences in the NY area but we've narrowed the search down to age group and ethnicity… the photo isn't helpful for the most possible suspect…"

"Change of hair style and or colour, weight loss?"

"Spot on, have you taken up mind reading lately?" Jareau slipped in.

"So what's your expert opinion agent?" Kingsley asked.

"I believe our lady lives out in Westchester County in a very good area and a town house…I used to have a boyfriend who's folks lived in that area," she explained.

"Right I think this is worth a visit. I'll meet you down stairs in the foyer and we'll take Detective Garland with us as she's been very active with this particular case."

Garland nodded her appreciation at the chance of working alongside these two agents even if it meant clocking up the overtime.

Kingsley turned to look across the bullpen where Rob Ellison had been collating all the forensic evidence that was coming in from the recent murders. Kingsley walked over to him to update him on the females they had identified.

"Ellison, I want you to go to the NY Law School and get as much information as you can about Claire Valliere. One of her tutors rang in to identify her and he said that she was not the sort to frequent clubs so lets try and get some background that might help in an interview. Keep Reid in the loop on this."

Ellison nodded, "You thinking that she might have been the subservient one of the two?"

"It's just an idea. I think I'd still like to see the evening's double murder as an accident rather than a premeditated event. I've a feeling that is how Reid is going to play it with Valliere and we'll see if he wants to have the first session with her here."

Ellison gathered his over coat and headed for the elevator, it was a good feeling to be making some moves on this case. The agent hoped that this all proved to be the opening for solving the murders particularly as he would like to watch Dr. Reid do an interview. Ellison had admired his skill when he'd seen some of his 'suspect' interviews and was fascinated by the way Reid tailored his technique to the suspect being questioned. He particularly remembered the quiet and very patient way he had dealt with the silent prisoner, Shields, and by contrast, the brisk manner he had dealt with eminent names in the 'Washington Paedophile' case.

The New York traffic made the journey over an hour but Westchester was another world compared to the city's noise and manic pace of its inhabitants. They drew up in a quiet street of modern town houses situated to the north of New Rochelle. Each house had an immaculate manicured front lawn and well kept driveways to the large attached integral garages. This was not one of the very expensive gated communities that had been built north of the city but the area still looked affluent and definitely middle class. No- one appeared to be at the targeted home but the middle- aged neighbour to the left opened her door and stepped out eyeing the three of them suspiciously.

Kingsley smiled broadly and walked over to her with his badge already in his hand to impress upon her that he was about lawful business in the area. After identifying himself he explained his presence to the inquisitive Mrs. Lancaster.

"We are trying to find Miss Valliere, we believe that she can help us piece together what happened to a friend of hers last night…."

"Oh you mean Nicola…It was her then. I told my Eric, before he left for work, that the murdered woman looked like Nicola…They were always out together. Claire was a nice girl until she got in with Nicola…she was a bit of a wild one …liked her clubs. Claire started to go out dressed…well I wouldn't like my daughter dressed like that. Some nights she looked more like a tart even if the clothes were expensive…Her skirt was too short and the way she'd be all made up. Claire changed her hairstyle and darkened it and then that Nicola started coming here. They would often come back giggling after midnight."

"So Claire had changed her behaviour recently?" Kingsley asked mildly wanting to mine this woman for all of her views on the changes in the suspect's recent life style.

"Well, yes. Claire was a very studious woman when she first moved in here…Now lets see that was a couple of years ago now…Claire said that she intended to be a 'divorce' lawyer. We often saw her with her heavy books and she'd be working at her desk in a back bedroom most weekday nights. But then she seemed very quiet a few months ago, hardly saw her for a few weeks. I don't think that she was very well because she lost some weight and went a bit too skinny. It was around that time that she changed her hairstyle, had it cut shorter and changed the colour…

Soon after that Nicola started visiting here. Claire introduced her one afternoon when they were just back from some shopping and I was cutting the dead heads off those roses," Mrs. Lancaster's eyes darted to indicate the small bed of four or five shrub roses that were all a shade of vibrant pink.

"I know I shouldn't speak ill of the dead, and I wouldn't have wished her getting murdered, but I didn't like Nicola. That woman had money, and she wore it like it was natural to her, but she wasn't friendly. I just felt that she looked down on us and that was something that Claire didn't do. Claire is a nice woman and would say hello to you if she saw you, even if out shopping she wouldn't just pass you by. Claire was studious and Eric and I had seen her a couple of times at the theatre and she even made a point of coming over to speak to us during the interval. But she's changed since Nicola started coming here," the older woman repeated her initial opinion to the eager listeners.

"That sometimes happens with new friends…and you are introduced to other pleasures," Kingsley gently replied and thought about how his own world had been opened up by the interests of friends he'd made at college and then during the various Bureau placements. "I think sometimes we forget how life was for us when we were just setting out on a career," he added evenly.

"Well, I was the daughter of a Methodist minister and I was expected to behave with decorum and that has never left me," she replied in her own quiet firmness and J.J. raised an eyebrow in silent communication to Garland.

"I'm sure you were a credit to your family, Ma'am," Kingsley soothed, " You didn't see Miss Valliere leave did you?"

"About 10 minutes before you came, took her car…She didn't look too well, I thought she looked pale but then, if she had just heard that her friend had been murdered, I suppose she was in shock," Mrs. Lancaster replied thoughtfully.

Jareau turned and walked a little away so as not to be overheard and rang in her instructions to have a priority alert out for Valliere's silver Mercedes ML500.

A couple of minutes later Kingsley and Garland joined her.

"Nothing we can do here at the moment but I think we need to find her quickly. J.J. you drive while I call Reid to tell him how things stand here. You know this area, but if she is the killer she will need to get rid of the gun…any ideas?"

"There's the big Twin Lakes Park about 15 minutes drive from here with a lot of undergrowth and tree cover perfect if someone wanted to hide a gun in undergrowth. However, if she heads for New Rochelle's water front then there's Five Island Park; the islands are connected by footbridges and pathways…so there are lots of opportunities for disposing of an unwanted weapon in water or undergrowth. But in our favour, the weather's chilly today so that will cut down on the public and the children will be in school," J.J. answered getting into the driver's seat.

"But the traffic is bad this time of day for getting into the city and its daytime so she'd probably be noticed throwing something into the immediate waterfront or even the Long Island Sound. You'd be amazed just how many joggers notice things and then there are the bums who want to stay on the right side of the local patrols so being observant can be an asset," Garland chipped in.

"Really?" J.J. sounded surprised at Garland's comments because she'd never considered New Rochelle to have those problems.

"The local patrols know their low life. They get to know the people who live on the margins, trying to keep out of trouble, but being homeless and just wanting to be invisible can be difficult with the gangs and dealers making it hard to find a quiet place for themselves. The patrols try to keep an eye on them so they are not continually the target of bored teenagers trying to prove themselves and the various 'outreach' charities do supply many of them with a bit of food during the week, even if it's not every day."

Kingsley shook his head sadly at the homeless problem that never seemed to get better and tuned out the two women so he could call Reid from the back seat.

"The neighbour had noticed a change in her physically a few months ago…said she didn't see her for a bit and she'd lost weight…About the same time she changed her hair style."

"Right, she could have been attacked around that time and then decided on a different image to help her cope with the future. I hope Ellison comes up with some more details… perhaps she confided in another friend," replied the consultant.

"Yeah, exactly my thinking too. I feel this is the weaker of the two, we're taking a gamble and heading for a wooded area nearby where J.J. reckons you could easily hide a gun," Kingsley added.

"Ah yes, the gun, a Glock 26, is registered to Sarah Morgan-Paterson, Nicola's mother. She has told Detective Weitz that Nicola had been taught to shoot at a proper shooting club and was considered a calm and steady shot. I've been talking to the mother, as she arrived here demanding to know what we were doing about her daughter's murder. Apparently, Mrs. Morgan-Paterson had been staying in Stanford with friends for a few days. When she heard that Nicola had been murdered she had travelled straight back to the city. She has given us permission to search the apartment, that she rarely uses now, but she confirmed that it was Nicola's principal home. Morgan was eager to take the apartment angle because Daniel Willard seems to be turning out rather like his predecessors…No particular woman and enjoyed the singles scene. So far the police haven't found anyone with a bad word against him," Reid briefed Kingsley.

"Good, having Morgan using his talents on the apartment is probably best. Let's hope Ellison comes up with something interesting on Claire Valliere"

"He's not been back to me but he's more likely to report to you because I'm only the consultant after all," the voice replied.

"Actually, I did tell him to keep us both informed because any information would be useful for an interview with this suspect."

"Thanks, I appreciate that…I'm still trying to get use to this position as a consultant but no longer an agent…It's a bit strange being here but having to hold back," Reid confessed.

"Yeah, I guess your old colleagues have adjustments to make too but I'm just grateful that you did decide to come out here. There's nothing like being on the scene when it's a big case…"

"True, and I've had my uses keeping the Chief and Mayor out of your way for a few hours," Reid's voice sounded upbeat and mischievous.

"Look you can have all the working breakfasts with the big wigs you like on my cases…" Kingsley cheerfully replied.

Kingsley heard the chuckle before Reid added, "Right…well I don't recommend the food and the placating of egos that was needed before the media circus got underway. We just needed both Mayor and Chief working together and not running their future campaigns through this case. I was happy to help and put it down to that unwritten part of my job description."

Garland sat quietly beside Jareau and listened to the senior agent making his call. It sounded as if he had established a good relationship with the consultant but then Dr. Reid seemed very easy to get along with anyway.

Then a few minutes later a call came to Kingsley with the news that Valliere's car had been spotted in the car park of the eastern edge of the Twin Lakes Park.

"Well, ladies, I just can't believe it but the gods seem to be on our side today… J.J. that was an inspired guess you had as we're heading to the right place. I've ordered another car for back up but given orders for it to hold back and not enter the car park unless I order it because we don't want to scare her. We need to win Valliere's trust so gently does it."

"Was she spotted by a patrol?" Garland asked out of curiosity because the response had been so quick.

"No, they have discrete CCTV in the parking and children's play areas and the park rangers were included in the priority request. They began to check the car parks' cameras and found that they had worked their magic in our favour! This particular parking area isn't popular because its on the furthermost side and well away from the small children's play area, apparently it's used a lot by birdwatchers but today it's a bit too cold and damp to get the 'twitchers' out." Kingsley explained and was grateful for the alert staff that had spotted the car but had not approached the area. It was times like these that CCTV was worth the initial expensive outlay.

Jareau swung the car into the car park and saw that there were only two cars parked there. One was an unoccupied red Toyota Yaris while they could see that the other vehicle, a silver Mercedes ML500, had a driver who was stiffly still and seemed to be staring down at something in their lap.

"OK…Let's take this very gently… J.J. I want you to make the initial approach leaving Garland and I to just appear to be a couple just out for a walk in the park. Valliere doesn't seem to be taking much notice of her surroundings so I wonder what is taking all her concentration?" Kingsley mused, " We'll just be a few steps behind you, but be careful, she may have the gun …perhaps even contemplating taking her own life because she shot her friend…" the senior agent cautioned.

Jennifer Jareau was alert and aware of the possible danger as she walked towards the suspect's car, but the agent had her gun in her jacket pocket and her hand was around the cool metal. To the casual observer, Jareau was just an attractive blond woman about to take a stroll in the park, her hands in her pockets of her gentian blue wool coat against the Autumnal nip in the air. Behind her were a black American couple, also heading for a nearby path that would take them through a wooded area where the trees still held their stunning glory of gold and red leaves.

As Jareau approached she could see that Valliere was just sitting with a small looking gun on her lap. The agent took out her cell phone casually and informed her leader of the situation.

"I want to try and talk her out of the car," Jareau said with a firm conviction of her abilities.

"Garland and I will be on the other side and we'll act if she aims at you. Don't forget to I.D. yourself first," Kingsley cautioned because the situation had the potential of going bad despite the suspect looking pretty harmless at that moment.

"Of course, I'm going in now," the female agent answered, a little annoyed at Kingsley's reminder of standard practice. Jareau strode out towards the driver's side of the car and as she approached noted the driver's door lock was not activated. Her approach also confirmed that the suspect was not actually holding the gun; it was just resting on her lap. The agent quickly glanced around to note her colleagues' positions and reached for the door.

The woman looked up, her big brown eyes looked out at her like a startled bush baby. The eyes blinked and appeared to be the only part of the woman's face that made any movement, even when Jareau identified herself and aimed her gun steadily at her.

"FBI…RAISE YOUR HANDS! GET OUT OF THE CAR NOW!" she ordered but the seated woman stared back in bewilderment.

"CLAIRE VALLIERE…RAISE YOUR HANDS!" J.J. tried once more to get the woman to comprehend the order.

Then to Jareau's surprise the woman began to tremble and appeared to be glued to the seat as the trembling increased. Jareau took the decision to swiftly reach in and snatched the gun off her lap but the woman made no effort to stop her. The agent threw the gun towards the front of the vehicle and Garland instantly moved to retrieve it. As the detective approached Kingsley once more, he quietly told her to take the gun back to their car and to bag it ready for forensics. Garland left her fellow Black American still concentrating upon the scene before him, his own gun held steady, just in case the woman had another concealed weapon that she might turn upon his agent.

Kingsley's hearing seemed to be hyper sensitive as his senses were on full alert because of the situation. He heard his agent lower the sharp commanding tone of her voice a little…

"Claire, I'm Agent Jareau we've been looking for you because we need to talk to you about last night," she calmly said not taking her eyes off the trembling woman. "You look very cold and tired, Claire, come with me and we'll take you back in our car and you can have a warm drink…"

"It was Nicola's fault," the trembling woman suddenly softly interjected, "He seems a nice man…"

"The man with Nicola?" Jareau gently asked wondering where the woman's mind was at that moment.

"No…the man on the news…That Dr. Reid, he spoke to me, said he understood that I would be shocked and distressed to hear of my friend's death. He wants me to talk to him…" the suspect quietly asserted.

Valliere's enormous eyes were focussed on Jareau's face and J.J. thought how childlike she looked, and utterly bewildered just sitting in the driving seat with her trembling hands resting now in her lap. The agent hoped that she was going to be considered sane enough to be questioned but she didn't like Valliere's present demeanour and suspected that any lawyer would demand a medical assessment of their client.

Kingsley watched warily; his agent was making all the right moves and he didn't want to break any trust that might be building up between the two women. He was surprised at how fragile the suspect looked and her appearance implied that she was the weaker of the pair, 'unless she's a good actress', a firm voice questioned his assessment inside his head. It wouldn't be the first time that a suspect had put on a performance for law enforcement and the subsequent trial.

"Yes," Jareau agreed quietly with her, " Dr. Reid is a very gentle and compassionate man and he is very concerned for your welfare. He will be eager to see you and to make sure that you're all right,"

Kingsley silently prayed that this woman wasn't going to go into melt down before they had spoken to her.

"If you come with me I can take you to see Dr. Reid, he's waiting back in New York to see you," Jareau re-assured the frightened woman.

"He'll speak to me…just him …You see he'll understand, he said he'd understand me," she spoke again in such a simple and feeble fashion that the agents couldn't believe that this woman had been training to be a lawyer.

"I promise you, I will be with you and I will introduce you to Dr. Reid. He is a very kind person and will understand anything you tell him. Dr. Reid is a very patient man," Jareau clearly and patiently stated.

"You know him?"

"Yes, I've known Dr. Reid for many years now and have worked alongside him before. I promise you that Dr. Reid is the kindest of men who listens and is so gentle with people who need to take their time to talk about distressing events."

The team leader felt a glow of pride at his agent's gentle but professional manner with this suspect killer. Jareau was taking her time not to tip Valliere over the edge because the more he observed the more Kingsley felt that this was not an act he was witnessing from the suspect.

"I don't trust men that much," Valliere suddenly added, but then shook violently at some memory.

Jareau wondered for a moment if she should reach in and pull her out of the car, but then her compassionate side told her that being gentle and patient a little longer would win over this woman's trust. The agent hoped that Valliere would probably calm down a bit on the drive back to New York if she were assured of seeing Reid.

Jareau's patience and quiet manner paid dividends when suddenly, after a few minutes of silence, Claire Valliere began to move her cold and tired legs,

"You'll stay with me?" she asked softly as she got out and Garland slipped alongside with cuffs at the ready.

"We'll not need them, detective, because Ms Valliere is coming to talk to Dr. Reid voluntarily about last night," Jareau said softly not taking her eyes of the suspect. Garland immediately slipped the cuffs back into her coat pocket but took a protective position the other side of the suspect as Jareau gently guided the wanted woman toward the car.

Kingsley took up the rear, his own gun was now being held within his pocket but he remained alert as they walked back to their vehicle. He let the women take the back seat, Claire Valliere sitting securely between Garland and his agent.

Before Kingsley got into the car himself, he chose to call up a forensics recovery vehicle because Valliere's car needed careful scrutiny. Kingsley also put in a call for the local despatch to bring in the patrol car to stay with the Mercedes until the forensics team reclaimed it. He was grateful for this unit that had not been called upon until now and waited until they had driven into the car park so he could meet them personally and give them his thanks. Sometimes it was these simple extra few minutes of delay to perform a 'thank you for being there', even if they had not been part of the action, that could pay a future dividend. If Kingsley had the time, he liked to briefly inform LEOs of their part in a case, he now particularly wanted to explain why it was important that no one touched that car before the forensics people took over. These few extra minutes could make all the difference with the local police department if the FBI were called in on a future case in that area and this agent was a firm believer in good communications with all police departments. Finally, Kingsley called Reid to tell him about Valliere's physical, and inferred mental, state. It was a brief call but he knew that Reid would prepare the ground back in New York and keep the media at bay and any other prying eyes well away from the fragile woman they had to transport back.

Meanwhile, the two women were very aware that their prisoner was radiating a physical coldness between them. Both could even feel the coldness of the woman's legs seeping though her denim jeans and her linen shirt was not adequate for the chill of that day. Jareau looked down at Valliere's bluish hands and noticed the badly bitten finger nails to the point that a couple of fingers on her right hand had bled and looked particularly sore. Garland caught Jareau's eye when she glanced over toward her; they gave each other a look of mutual understanding. This was a troubled prisoner even if they had not formerly arrested her and for the moment she was voluntarily returning with them merely to talk to Reid about her friend and the previous evening. They would have to be very careful how they handled things back at the Headquarters because this suspect appeared to be in a vulnerable state and they didn't want to lose a case for going in too hard or not making sure that she understood her rights. Valliere was a law student but nothing in her present behaviour implied any legal knowledge and that rang alarm bells for Jareau. She wondered if Reid would actually even question her if he thought her in need of a psych assessment.

Valliere didn't seem to want to talk on the drive back and appeared lost in her own world just watching the traffic pass them by, or occasionally gnawing on the already well chewed finger nails. The car heater was turned up but still the woman trembled between her two guardians although Jareau was pleased that she was not shaking as much as when she had first found her.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Reid was thinking about the information that Ellison and Morgan had gathered on their respective tasks. Kingsley would be returning via a back entrance to avoid, if possible, any media attention. The consultant had prepared for their arrival and an interview room was already set aside. If Reid considered the suspect too fragile to interview then he would have to get a medical assessment to cover their backs. However, on paper Valliere was an intelligent woman and as a law student this suspect was more than capable of manipulating the whole process, especially if she had a wide knowledge of legal case studies.

Spencer Reid unconsciously rubbed his knee, his stump was aching already this morning and it annoyed him. It was not as if he'd been dashing about although he had been busy since arriving in New York but he had been used to so much more as an agent. Then his inner voice of reason echoed inside his head, 'you're not an agent any more, you were invalided out of that position…you're pushing yourself because you want to be seen as coping well with this assignment'.

He leaned himself against the desk in the room assigned to them and looked round the small office the team had made their area. It was all familiar with the paraphernalia of a working case: there were maps, profile ideas along with photos of the crimes scenes and the victims with their details condensed to age, where found, time of death and date together with a summary of their autopsy. There was the odd coffee cup and a bin full of discarded paper cups and take away cartons; it was all so normal for this line of work. They snatched food as they went along but off duty all agents would confess to enjoying a proper 'sit down' meal, preferably with the family, to restore a sense of unhurried normal relationships in a warm and trusted social world. Reid smiled to himself it was odd that he had chosen this abnormal world of work, especially after his unusual upbringing. Perhaps he should consider a move to pure academia once the baby arrived. However, as fast as the thought bubbled into his consciousness he dismissed it because he knew that he really liked the challenge of the unexpected, if often cruel, and definitely brutal world that the BAU mostly dealt with. He shook his head ruefully and silently acknowledged to himself that he had found a very rare partner in Jo because she had the strength to cope with his need for diversity and to also have a sense of helping people.

His cell phone bleeped and he looked down to see that it was Jo. He felt a little apprehensive because she didn't usually contact him during normal work hours.

"Hi! Every thing all right?" he softly asked as soon as he connected.

"Yeah, I just saw you on the news and wanted to say sorry for not being very awake to say goodbye properly when you left."

"Well you needed your sleep. It's been pretty manic since I got here but I'm glad I came because I've been able to take some of the pressure off the team simply by fronting the media side."

"Two more murders but are they connected?"

"I believe so and I'm waiting to interview someone now who might throw some light on last night's events. It's not been 24 hours since I got involved with this case but it's moving fast so I might even be home for the weekend."

"Don't make rash promises…This was supposed to be a consultant's position and you're still dashing off in the early hours, Spencer."

Spencer heard the exasperation in Jo's voice. He'd probably upset her more than he'd realised and it was his own fault because he had stressed that from now on he'd be based at Quantico and around most of the time working fairly normal office hours. Working alongside the psych team was usually a fairly predictable timetable and he did more teaching now but even he had not predicted this problem.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"It's OK, I should be used to it, you work for the FBI so there is a certain unpredictability, and I thought you looked as if you were enjoying that media conference this morning," Jo teased.

"Hey, you don't know what had gone before with the working breakfast with the Chief of Police and the Mayor…Two large egos fighting their corners and wanting to win over the public to their side. I hate the politics of these events but my reputation has come in very useful but perhaps I shouldn't expect it to come to my rescue all the time," he admitted.

Jo picked up the self-criticism and wondered what else he was not telling her.

"How's the leg?" she instinctively probed.

Spencer smiled ruefully at her ability to sense his situation.

"It's a bit of a pain at the moment, not throbbing but just aching, so I know my stump is there but I'm getting about all right and I've not had to take any pain killers," he confessed but he knew it was impossible to lie to Jo.

There was a pause before Jo replied with a practised calm voice, "You're caught up in the manic rush of a case and you can't push yourself to the limit all the time. You have to remember that you haven't been back full time very long and then it was with the psych department mostly alongside some set lectures. Honestly, Spencer, I know you don't want to be seen as an invalid but you're still healing and still under a consultant and if you push yourself too far then that leg will be a pain," Jo stubbornly reminded her husband.

Spencer winced, he hated to admit it but she was probably right and although the adrenaline was running high at the moment there would eventually be the down side when it would all catch up with him.

"So what are you doing today?" he asked in a vain hope to deflect her from his present concerns.

He heard a gentle sigh but she played along, "I've some materials to research for another renovation in Arlington then I've been invited for dinner with Jeff and Marilyn. The Hotchners have invited us for Saturday lunch and the Pentalls have invited us over for one of their musical 'events' on Sunday evening. Either way if you're not back I've been told to turn up on my own!" she added defiantly.

Spencer chuckled he could just imagine Hayley and Anna arranging such matters with Jo and both insisting on her presence.

"I'm hoping to be back by then so you'll not be able to dwell on your apparent single status," he replied in kind. They had their own gentle mutual teasing that masked the missing of the absent partner.

The desk phone shrilled into life.

"Gotta go, Jo…. Love you," he swiftly said and reached for the protesting phone.

"Dr. Reid," he responded to the call once more the professional consultant.

'Agent Kingsley asked me to contact you and say that they had entered the building, Dr." the efficient male voice informed.

"Thank you, I'm on my way." Reid sighed, typical that the team had probably been trying to contact him while Jo was making that rare phone call.

Dr. Reid strode purposely to the elevator but with each step his stump sent a twinge of pain that the man tried to push to the furthest reaches of his mind.

As he approached the interview room he saw Garland with two coffees.

"How is she?"

"She may be faking it but she's a bit odd…kinda detached. J.J. has tried to keep her with us but she seems sometimes quietly in her own world. Valliere's very cold so we thought a coffee would help."

"So no chat on the way back?"

"No, we tried but she just stared out of the windows. I'm not sure about her, she could have been using that time to think about her next move."

"Right, you go and take her coffee in and I'll observe her for a few minutes," Reid instructed and slipped into the observation room where he found Matt Kingsley pensively watching the suspect killer.

"Sorry Matt, I had an unexpected personal call," he apologised as he closed the door.

"Everything all right?" the senior agent enquired.

"Yeah, fine, my wife had just seen me on the news and wanted to make sure I was OK."

"Worrying about you on your first case back?" Matt said with a sympathetic smile.

"Something like that. I think the being called out was the unexpected bit especially as I'd stressed that the irregular hours and almost constant travelling were going to be a thing of the past."

"Oh boy, are you in bad books!" Matt sympathised and felt a surge of relief that this man had come out to them.

"So no resistance about coming in?" asked Reid suddenly all business.

"Not really…she just wants to talk to you. Our suspect believes that you'll understand her. She told J.J. that you had told her that you wanted to talk to her…You certainly made an impression on her with your news conference."

"Good, it means that she wants to talk but is this going to be a prepared act or are we going to get the truth? What do you think of her mental state?" he asked the experienced profiler.

"I thought initially she was faking it, then I saw the prolonged shaking and I don't think she had any control over her body at that point. She has calmed down a lot on the drive back but she has been very quiet despite the gentle attempts by both the women to get any kind of response out of her. J.J was very clever when we found her, she was trembling so much she probably couldn't get out of her car but J.J. snatched the gun off Valliere's lap and picked up on the her mention of you. Jareau stressed that she had previously worked with you and that you were a kind, patient and compassionate man who would listen to her. I did hear Valliere say that she didn't trust men much and she shook quite violently at that statement."

Reid nodded, keeping his eyes on the pale looking woman who sat hunched over the coffee that had been given her. Jareau was attentive and quietly chatting away about ordinary everyday matters to try and get the woman to respond with more than a monosyllabic reply. He focussed upon the raw looking hands and smiled to himself.

Matt caught the reaction and wondered what conclusions the genius had drawn but he instinctively waited for the consultant to gather his thoughts together before sharing them.

"Has she been informed of her rights?"

"Of course, both in the car and again by me when we brought her to this interview room. She seemed calm and lucid and said that she didn't want to have a layer with her at that time. I think it was the longest and most flowing sentence I'd heard her speak…it was such a contrast to her behaviour when we found her in the car park."

"Interesting, she showed no hesitation in turning down access to a lawyer?"

"None at all. It's all on camera and she seemed a different woman for a brief moment to the one I'd driven back here," Kingsley replied but all the time Reid kept his eyes fixed on Claire Valliere.

"Right, I'll get a coffee for myself and join her…I need J.J. to remain but I'll send Garland out as I don't want Valliere to feel oppressed by numbers in that room and she seems to respond to our agent rather than Garland."

Before Kingsley could reply, he heard the door open and knew that soon he was going to witness a Reid interview.

End of Chapter 32.


	33. Chapter 33

**The Interregnum: Chapter 33**

**By Helena Fallon**

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Both Detective Garland and Agent Jareau looked up at the sound of the door opening but Claire Valliere remained studying her coffee cup.

"Thank you Detective," Dr. Spencer Reid said with a quiet but firm business like manner.

Garland gave a slight nod of acceptance but also saw his fleeting glance towards the hidden camera and knew that she was invited to watch.

The man moved to take the chair that Garland had vacated and placed his own cup of dark muddy looking coffee carefully on the table before actually sitting down opposite the interviewee.

"Good afternoon, Ms Valliere," the man said pleasantly, "I'm Dr. Spencer Reid and I'm a Criminal Psychologist and a Senior Consultant with the FBI's Behavioural Analyst Unit at Quantico.

Valliere looked up and found herself staring into the face of the man she had watched on the news that morning. He was not how she imagined he would be. He looked much younger in the flesh and also thinner; the face was long with prominent cheekbones but the bony face had an attractive quality because the man's eyes dominated the features. The woman was momentarily transfixed by the enormous brown eyes that stared patiently at her. They were not hard and coldly calculating, nor did they give any hint of pre-judgement towards her, but they were a warm brown that gave a sense of steadiness and re-assurance. The overall effect was that Claire Valliere felt that she was in the presence of a compassionate man. Agent Jareau had said that Dr. Reid was a patient and compassionate man and she felt her inner world shift into another more alert gear, the news programme had also stressed how successful an agent this man had been before becoming a consultant.

Valliere swallowed suddenly aware that she was staring at the newcomer who in return didn't seem at all perturbed by her behaviour and gave the impression of a benign presence in the room.

"Er…Good afternoon, I'm sorry I've been feeling a bit distracted," she managed to say but her mouth felt dry and she wondered if the coffee really would help. She picked up the plain white plastic cup and sipped the warm liquid. Her inner self reminded her that it would be all right if she stuck with the plan she'd thought out over the past hours of torment.

" Just take your time, Ms. Valliere, the coffee will warm you after your recent shock. I understand from Agent Kingsley and Detective Garland that you wished to talk to me about your friend Nicola Morgan-Paterson," the man gently continued. She nodded not trusting herself to speak at that moment and prayed that her unco-operative idling mind would slip back into gear.

"I've been a colleague of Agent Jareau for a number of years and I'm sure that she has been very understanding of your present position. It is very difficult when we lose a valued friend and for a time the world seems to move a little out of kilter around us as we adjust to the loss," the light soft voice filled the room with compassion. The man took a sip of his own coffee before he continued.

"Agent Kingsley said that you didn't wish to have a legal representative with you at the moment, do you still feel comfortable talking to me without a lawyer?" the criminal psychologist softly asked solicitously and his sensitive eyes appeared to Claire to express his concern for her welfare.

"Yes, it's OK, I'm a law student and I know my rights but this is just an interview… I've not been charged with anything," the woman stated firmly in a deeper voice than Reid had expected after her previous few words and there was more confidence than he'd witnessed before in the observation room.

"Quite so, but it is my duty to make sure that you are feeling comfortable being here but I'm sure that you appreciate that we need to know what happened last night and you did leave Delaney's with Nicola." He silently confirmed his initial observation that her clothing was inadequate for the cold weather and was deliberate in order to give the impression that she was not making logical decisions about her attire for such a chilly day. The inadequate clothing would also mean that she would naturally easily feel cold and tremble. Reid had seen too many distressed victims over the years not to trust his instincts in this case. The trembling that could occur with shock had an intensity that was accompanied by an emotional distress that the victim could not control even when the trembling subsided. At that moment, Reid could not sense that kind of emotional distress emanating from this woman despite the fact that her friend her been murdered only hours before.

Valliere nodded and drank a little more coffee but there was no sign of trembling that had characterised her earlier demeanour. Claire began to think that perhaps she ought to ask for a lawyer, but to do so would show a sudden change of mind that could in turn indicate her wavering indecision and might imply her guilt. But then Claire dismissed the thought as uncharacteristic because once she decided upon a course of action she usually believed in her choice and she was rarely wrong about her decisions. Consequently, Claire decided to pursue the present course that she had decided upon in the car park. She believed that a lawyer would probably be able to claim that she had been under undue pressure during the interview by the techniques used to get her to confess. She hoped that playing the lesser partner in crime could be explained away by the trauma she had suffered at the hands of a rapist. Claire took another sip of the warming coffee while gathering her thoughts.

Jareau sat quietly beside Reid and looked only at the female before them but she sensed that this man was going to get their suspect to confess. Agent Jareau was unsure about Claire Valliere's present mental state and kept changing her mind as to whether Valliere was playing them or really was bordering on being mentally incompetent for questioning. However, observing Valliere now Reid had entered the interview room made Jareau lean towards thinking that the woman was very aware and calculating.

Reid sipped his own coffee and gently smiled with a quiet benevolence whenever Valliere looked his way. He did not want her to see him as an aggressive interrogator but rather as a patient listener, who wished to know about the friendship that Claire and Nicola had shared and what had brought them to the tragic events of the previous night. He allowed the woman to drink half her coffee in silence and slowly sipped his own. He knew that Jareau would understand his lack of acknowledgement of her presence beside him; he needed her in the room but he didn't really want her participating unless he indicated for her to join in.

Reid carefully observed Valliere hold her cup, not resting it on the table while she took small sips to make the drink last longer. The hands and fingers looked very sore while some of the nails looked ragged from abrasive treatment. Reid had his own thoughts about the reason for such ill treatment of her hands by a woman who normally would have naturally prided herself on beautiful manicured nails. Now being closer to her he could see how some nails had been bitten down and pointed to Claire's recent stress levels, or had she deliberately gnawed at her fingers to give the impression of distress? Meanwhile, he placed his own half-full cup on the plastic table with his steady hands loosely encircling it.

Valliere looked at the man's fingers and wondered if he was a musician because he had such long slender, but strong looking, fingers with clean manicured nails that were not very short like most of the men she knew. This small point captured her thoughts. Perhaps he played a stringed instrument like Darren. Darren had played the viola and had strong manicured nails like this man opposite. She suddenly wondered what Darren was doing at that moment; she had enjoyed being his girlfriend but it had not lasted because he had left to study for a doctorate at MIT and she didn't want a distant boyfriend. Claire sipped more of her coffee and wondered when Dr. Reid would begin interviewing her in earnest; the silence was beginning to make her aware of her heart pounding and she tried to consciously take deeper and more even breaths. Claire realised that the strain was mounting just sitting drinking the awful coffee while this quiet man watched her like a cat pretending not to notice the mouse in the corner.

"Do you play an instrument?" Valliere suddenly asked wanting to take control of the room. Jareau was fascinated that Reid had got Claire to break the room's growing silence so quickly.

He waited for the woman to look into his face and he gently smiled and answered in a soft and light melodious voice,

"Yes, I do. I play the violin, lute and the piano," he replied pleasantly.

Valliere couldn't stop herself, her face lit up and her dark eyes shone with interest, "Wow three difficult instruments, I've never met anyone who played the lute before. Have you been playing the lute for long?" she asked conversationally.

"Oh…since I was 10…that's around 20 years now, although the violin was my first instrument followed by the piano. The lute was the last instrument that I took up and my mother's favourite…Are you musical?" he asked in an equally conversational tone and in the observation room, Kingsley, Garland and Ellison all sighed at the man's ability to slip through the woman's defences.

"Didn't take him long to get her to behave normally," Garland observed.

"No, that's why he's got quite a reputation in the Bureau. The Bureau thought it'd lost his abilities when he lost part of a leg in a terrorist incident while on holiday…We're lucky he stayed on with a consultant's position…" Kingsley said not taking his eyes off the interview room scene.

Garland had noticed that Reid had a slight limp from the first time she'd met him and the media had raked up all they could about the talented man to fill in airtime while they lacked concrete developments on the murders. It took the pressure off the people working the case to have him there and his steadiness since arriving had given every one a new injection of energy to succeed.

"Jeez…He walks pretty well, I'd not realised until the media started giving a biography…" replied Garland and her estimation of this man rose a few more notches and wondered how many of her male friends would have coped.

Back in the interview room, there appeared to be a perfectly normal conversation flowing between two adults. It was the kind of conversation that occurs when people have been recently introduced and are probing for more information to form an opinion of the new acquaintance and perhaps find points of commonality.

"Well I took piano lessons from the age of six but I don't play regularly now although I do have a piano in the house."

The consultant nodded, "I'm sure that you find your law studies very time consuming. I understand that the bar exams are very demanding," he sympathised.

"There are a lot of case studies but I've always tried to have a total break from the studies at least a couple of times a week to do something totally different."

"That's a very sensible attitude. What do you like doing to unwind?" the man asked giving her his complete attention. Jareau observed that Valliere wasn't taking any notice of her despite her close proximity to Reid. The woman had unconsciously even turned her body a little so as to take in a wider angle of Reid and consequently obscure her vision of Jareau at the table.

"Oh, I like the theatre and classical concerts and I like to do things around the house…I made my own cushion for a chair I'd renovated and some drapes for the spare bedroom. I've even tried my hand at decorating."

"Mmm…I've done my own share of home decorating," Reid confessed and he smiled broadly at the memories that suddenly surfaced of decorating his apartment after he'd left the clinic.

Valliere couldn't stop herself from responding to the boyish enthusiasm mirrored in his smile and thought that his wife was lucky to have this man around. Valliere's eyes settled on the broad gold ring, she hoped that the wife was good to him.

"Does your wife help?" she asked and then felt strangely embarrassed at her forthright manner and how ordinary this conversation was and nothing like she had anticipated.

Reid merely raised his right eyebrow and cocked his head a little to one side and smiled broadly once more before replying, "Mrs. Reid is a demon for decorating but she orders others about to get the results she requires."

The response was amusing to Jareau and she couldn't stop herself from smiling at the thought that filled her mind…Considering Jo's profession, and the company she worked for, the agent could imagine Jo taking control of her 'decorators' and her high expectations for the finished product.

"So what's J.J. finding so amusing?" asked Garland out of curiosity.

"She knows Mrs Reid…I think Reid said she's an interior designer," Kingsley clarified.

"So Ms Valliere, or can I call you Claire?" Reid asked in a friendly tone of voice.

The woman shrugged, "Yes, you can call me Claire, the others did who brought me here."

Reid nodded and continued, "Well Claire, did you meet Nicola at a concert or the theatre?" he asked to get the woman back on the subject he was really interested in.

"Oh no! Nicola prefers clubs and disco music!" Claire suddenly blurted out and it hit her how unguarded she had just been and how she had spoken in the present tense of her dead friend.

"Then how did you two meet because you were both students at different establishments and ordinarily your paths would not have crossed?" the psychologist asked reasonably while his large compassionate eyes never left Claire's face.

Claire suddenly felt invisible walls closing in around her. She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts; nothing was going to plan since this man had walked into the room. Once more she wondered if she should insist upon a lawyer but then that would immediately be interpreted as admitting that she was guilty and her plan was a more complicated path to win over a jury.

She looked up and found the man's open inquisitive face still watching her but it was not in a cold manner, it seemed to the woman that he gave her a kindly look of understanding.

"It's a bit complicated…We had both experienced a similar bad situation," she replied in the guarded manner that she had practised a few hours earlier before her dressing table mirror.

Dr. Reid's features seemed to soften and the eyes locked onto the woman's giving her his complete attention.

"You were both badly hurt by men," he softly stated.

Claire was surprised by this confident statement. "How did you know?" she asked in a childlike voice.

"Oh it's the little things, Claire. Like changing your hairstyle and colour it's a symbol of change to the world. You probably experienced a change in your weight as well; both changes are very common in women who have faced a traumatic experience where they felt out of control of their lives. I had a girl friend who had been brutally attacked and she went through a period of overeating and also changed her hairstyle…" Reid quietly admitted.

Jareau listened and instantly thought of Jo's badly scarred and cold hand and how Jo could no longer straighten out her fingers to lay her left hand flat on a surface. It was typical of Spencer to buy her an antique gold locket instead of an engagement ring so as not to draw attention to her damaged hand. However, Jo did wear a plain band of gold, just like her husband, but it was her locket that most people remarked upon.

"Did she get over it?" Claire Valliere asked genuinely interested in the unknown woman's fate.

Jareau mentally noted Claire's normal sympathetic reaction to another woman's plight and this was another pointer for the agent that this suspect was not mentally unstable.

"Yes, although sometimes memories come to the surface. Traumatic events have a tendency to haunt us at the most unexpected times…" Reid replied and let the words hang in the air. He noticed that she was obviously thinking about her next move because she couldn't meet his eyes but stared intently at the slate grey tabletop. Reid wondered if his words had suddenly reminded Claire of the previous night's events and she was trying to regain control of her thoughts once more. Whatever the real reason, the consequence was that silence began to fill the room radiating out from the table to the corners. However, Spencer Reid let her think a little more before he eventually clearly cut through the invisible tendrils of a scheming mind.

"Did you both share the experience of date rape?" the man's voice acted as a spear that pierced the heart of the matter and the woman's head shot up at the question, but he knew the answer from her manner.

Jareau felt a surge of compassion for the woman. It was a fine line these days, and difficult for jury's to convict, even if a case made it to court, because often it was a matter of merely a man's word against the woman's. If both had been drinking then the police were not very interested unless there was obvious violence or evidence of a drugged drink. Jareau saw Valliere's eyes widen with the memory of the fear and self-loathing that the question evoked.

"Did you report your rape?" Reid gently probed.

Claire shook her head and then spoke keeping her eyes on an imagined spot on the table about 2 inches in front of Reid's loosely placed hands.

"No…What was the use? Who would believe me? Like he said, it was my word against his and we had both been seen drinking and I'd also snorted coke so that wouldn't go down very well with the police. I went back to his place but I didn't remember consenting to sex or our performance being watched. I didn't know his friend would be there at his apartment and I was watched by this other guy…I couldn't claim I was a virgin and he was very careful…They laughed at me in the morning and said that I wasn't that good in bed. When I started to complain about my treatment, I was told that it was very unlikely that I'd get any sympathy from the law because it was consensual and it'd had been a good night out at an expensive club so I should stop whining. He was so confident that there were plenty of women queuing up to be seen out with him and I should consider myself fortunate to have shared his evening…He was just so arrogant and dismissed me. "

"Ah…one of the sport jocks that occupy any college campus and big city life, and this one was rich aswell so you were up against a good family who could make life difficult if you pursued a complaint. It was no doubt doubly difficult having a comfortable amount of money yourself aswell because women of your social standing don't bring such matters to court," Reid continued with his scenario and persisted…. "So how did you meet Nicola?"

"We women who have money don't go to the usual support groups…Rape happens to other women not us," she replied bitterly, "We can afford to see expensive psychs. I even went to a female one, like several other women I've met since, but even she was unsympathetic…so many are. They will tell you that you were behaving like a silly little girl and you'll not get yourself into that situation again. They will eagerly take your money for their time but underneath the mock sympathy they think you deserved it for being so gullible. Do you know what one very expensive female psych told me, 'Forget it honey, put it down to experience because you weren't beaten up, viciously cut, kept prisoner or photos taken or recorded. So put it down to a bad experience and go out and choose a real man next time and steer clear of the sport jocks because you now know they're just not worth it!'" she bitterly spat the memory out. For a few moments the atmosphere of the interview room seemed to crawl with invisible snakes of disgust.

"So you and Nicola shared the same psychologist?" Reid probed needing to know the connection.

Claire shook her head, "No, I told a fellow law student I trusted what had happened and she told me about a support group that wasn't advertised…just for us wealthier types. We met at the woman's apartment…she's called Laura and there were 6 of us the nights I attended. We only ever used first names and I've no idea where the other women lived. Nicola was there…We just talked about what happened to us and about putting the pieces together. Mostly the others just wanted to forget about it because they knew that they couldn't prove anything, but they seemed to be drowning in the memories of their experiences and it was all about trying to feel a woman again. But Nicola said that these men ought to be punished…I was the only one who understood her desire for vengeance, the others were not strong enough to see beyond their own humiliation. We went a couple of times to Laura's but then decided to support one another because we needed to act against these men not just sit there drinking coffee and moaning about them…"

Reid nodded in understanding, "Yes, the pair of you were both capable women and used to getting what you wanted out of your lives, from a very early age, so letting these men get away with it just wasn't right," he stated evenly in his soft voice.

"Too right, that bastard took advantage of me, it was just supposed to be a coffee before I went home in a taxi. He said that the coffee would help me to come to my senses because I was a bit out of it. I wasn't used to the amount of alcohol and coke I'd had that night with him. The previous time we'd been out to a classical concert and he behaved like a real gentleman. When he asked me out again I didn't hesitate. It was then that he suggested the venue because I didn't know the club scene and he wanted to take me to one of his favourite places. It was different and I just followed along thinking that was what everyone did there and I didn't want to be out of place with him. Stupid of me but I felt confident with the guy…. I just didn't expect him to be all over me after the club," she bitterly explained.

"Oh so it was a double betrayal because you felt reasonably confident about being in his apartment that second date. But you mentioned a second man?" he gently enquired.

She nodded and brought her arms across her body as if for comfort against the memory.

"The first time at his apartment he had been on his own then the second time he'd raped me. Just because the first time we didn't have sex, I trusted him and really I didn't want sex that night either but the drink and drugs were affecting me. You see I was not used to mixing alcohol and coke and I just didn't react forcibly. Then I found that he had an old friend staying in the apartment, and he had watched from the bedroom door and asked if he could have a go too because he was up for it. The thing is part of me wanted it all to stop but I didn't seem to have any control over what was happening, everything happened so quickly and I wasn't in control. It was as if I was just too passive and that's not me but I couldn't feel anything, I was numb to it all and the most I remember is the weight of the men on top of me."

Jareau mentally flinched, she didn't doubt that this was the truth.

"What were the men called?" Reid gently continued to probe the incident.

She shook her head, "I can't remember the friend, he wasn't based in New York and had come for a visit. He's not even a person I can really describe properly because parts the memory is blurred. I suppose that's all due to my reaction to the coke and alcohol…I've not touched drugs since," she confessed.

"I'm not surprised Claire, but I need to know the name of the man you trusted?" the consultant persisted with his soft voice and the watchers held their breaths.

Claire Valliere felt sick but she spat out the name, "Martin…Martin Armitage"

Jareau felt her heart leap but there was no outward sign of triumph as Dr. Reid continued to interview the suspect murderer.

"Jeez…" whispered Ellison, "That was the third victim. Reid said that they might have practised before they targeted their real victims."

"Yeah, he was taking us in the right direction before we even got him here," replied Kingsley, "I'm glad that the Bureau managed to keep Reid because he has a real flair for this work."

Garland remained silent but she appreciated all that had happened in the room after she had left. She now saw the suspect, not just as a murderer, but as a real woman and one who had been badly used…but that still didn't give her the right to go around shooting men.

"Did a similar thing happen to Nicola?" Reid kept gently questioning not wanting this woman to suddenly clam up because she was reliving a distressful episode that she had not been properly counselled over.

"Nicola understood because it had happened to her, only a second guy wasn't involved. But she admitted that she had mixed coke and drinks and remembered saying no but Adam ignored her."

"Did Nicola tell you Adam's full name?" Reid kept going but he already felt it would be the name of the second victim.

Claire nodded in a defeated way; her confidence had disappeared in the telling of these events.

"Nicola warned me about Adam Tyler…right cocky bastard that one!" she suddenly vehemently stated.

"So when did you and Nicola decide to get your own back and teach Martin and Adam a lesson?"

Claire looked up and captured Reid's attention with a very earnest expression, "You understand don't you, we couldn't let them get away with what they had done to us…The bastards didn't recognise either of us a few weeks later when we acted to teach them a lesson. God knows how many women they had had after us but we obviously were nothing special in their world. You men just don't understand how different a woman is…We like to feel appreciated and not just be another notch on the bedpost of conquests," the voice seemed to deepen with the intensity of her feeling.

"Not all men behave like Adam and Martin behaved toward Nicola and yourself, some actually try very hard to understand the differences you allude to," Reid gently reasoned. Jareau once more thought of the relationship that she had observed between Jo and Spencer and hoped that she might find such compatibility eventually for herself but she was still looking.

"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that they deserved what they got!" Claire suddenly flared with a flash of temper.

In the observation room, the watchers waited amazed because Reid had basically managed to get this woman to confess to her part in two murders and she seemed to be coherent while revealing her calculating nature. All they needed was for Reid to get her to explain how they chose the victims and plotted the deaths and that detail would destroy any plea for temporary insanity.

"When did you and Nicola decide to act?"

"It was Nicola…she had the idea that we could save other women from the bastards who had hurt us. She thought of a way to trap them. We watched Adam and Martin carefully and got to know where they liked to go during the week. Nicola was the 'club girl' really but I knew I would have to tag along and learn how to play the game if we were going to be successful," she said almost like a naughty little girl caught red-handed but ready to blame an absent accomplice.

"And of course you did have in your favour the fact that you had both slightly changed your appearances. By this time, following your distressing episode, you had lost weight and changed your hair…It used to be a light brown had it not?" Reid innocently enquired.

"Yes, I needed a change. I lost a good 20 pounds and the longer hair made me look like a witch so I had it cut shorter and more round my face to make it look fuller," she explained with a steady voice.

Reid nodded and his facial features encouraged her to continue. At the back of his mind he knew that she was probably going to plead 'temporary insanity' and blame Nicola for the planning and pretend that she was only ever the junior tag along partner. Dr. Spencer Reid had discovered a little more about this woman than she probably was prepared to give him credit for and he continued to gently probe before he burst her illusion.

"Did Nicola also lose weight?"

"Not as much as I did but she did change her hair style and began to change her style of dress, she admitted that she now wore more provocative clothes for evenings at the clubs," conceded Claire.

"I'm interested to know where did you and Nicola meet to discuss your plans after you left Laura's informal support group?" Reid continued in his mild manner.

"Initially at Nicola's apartment because it was so central and we could fit in meetings in between our studies, whereas I had the town house out in New Rochelle and it was more difficult with the traffic. My place was all right for the weekends but Nicola preferred being at her apartment because she was intent on keeping up appearances. She refused to let the rape take over so she tried to behave like nothing had happened to her. Nicola didn't want any other person to know what had happened because she thought that they would then see a weakness in her for not fighting back, or think her stupid for letting herself get into that situation in the first place…She even regretted going to Laura's. Nicola said that I needed to take control of my life again, like she had, and then I'd feel better about myself too and would never let a man treat me like that ever again. She also found it strange that I liked living in New Rochelle and preferred it to the Big Ugly Apple," Claire recounted and it all flowed so well considering the hours of practise earlier in the morning.

Reid listened, he knew from the morning's enquires that there was evidence for both women being in denial of the consequences of their date rape. Laura, a final year medical student, had told them both to seek professional help and Laura thought they had when they had stopped attending her self-help group. He also mentally noted that Claire was persistently following the route of blaming Nicola for all the planning and the leading astray of the saintly Claire. Dr. Reid decided to string her along a little longer.

"It must have been comforting for both of you to share similar experiences but you say it was Nicola who planned revenge?" Reid pressed once more for clarity.

"Yes, I think her attitude scared the other women at Laura's support group. But I found it refreshing because those other women seemed to wallow in their debasement and they didn't appear to want to strike out confidently into the world once more. Those women had been damaged by those men…I was damaged by what happened to me…I felt I'd lost my self-confidence in judging people. Women don't knowingly set out to go out with potential rapists, and I wanted my life back. Those other women didn't seem to want their confidence back because they were not even trying to move on from what had happened to them. I wanted to trust the men around me again but after what happened I saw all men as senseless rampaging hulks of hormones that they didn't even attempt to control. They're dogs…just like dogs on heat that you see in the back streets." Claire suddenly began to rant in a stronger voice while her face seemed to harden and was transformed to a strong determined mask before the watchers' eyes.

Reid calmly sat and listened and Jareau kept her own composure, observing the changes in the suspect's voice, the animation of her features and the sense of violence that lay just beneath the surface of her performance.

"Whose idea was it for each of you to entice the other's victim?" Reid gently slipped in the very pointed question.

"Nicola…she had thought it out so well. She's an art historian you know and I must admit I'd not expected an arty person to be capable of such careful planning…I suppose it was the chess, she told me that she'd been her school chess champion. Nicola said that we could work together and that way we would get our own back but no one would suspect two women. I'd lure her target, Tyler, while she'd turn all her charms on Armitage but the beauty was that we got to eliminate our attacker. The one driving, and not doing the temptress act, pulled the trigger and therefore we have each achieved victory over the man and his crime," she triumphantly explained for Reid. "We didn't think the police would think about women being behind the murders because it's not something you often hear about."

Dr. Reid nodded carefully noting that she was speaking so freely and rationally about her part in the murders but still had not asked for a lawyer. Meanwhile, Jareau noted that Claire still referred to Nicola in the present as if by denying her part in her death meant that she was still alive. She wondered if it was really Valliere's conscience speaking the truth or merely all she had practised before they had caught up with her. The agent's thoughts were put aside when Jareau heard that Reid was still alert and pressing their suspect for more revelations.

"She didn't think women capable of serial killings?" Reid asked gently probing the unrepentant and quite confident sounding woman before him.

"Don't you see…You of all people must know that women are rarely considered serial killers like men who hunt down women. I told her that case studies in law leaned heavily towards males as the predators and certainly for serial murders. The police wouldn't think to look for women at first and if they ever chose to then our social standing and being respected professionals would help to cover our tracks."

"Wow, Did she really just say that!" said Garland not turning to see the men's faces.

"Yes, she really did just explain her complicity in the planning of these murders. I've got to hand it to Reid he's playing this so quietly, just by being so innocent and harmless looking. He's quite an actor…J.J.'s brilliant just playing the observer role and trusting the way Reid is taking the interview, " Kingsley muttered but then stopped before he said anything too revealing. He personally thought that neither Morgan or Ellison would have probably taken such a quiet backseat role because both had their own professional egos and would have felt, that as the agent, that they should have some say in the interview of this murderer. But Reid knew he needed an agent with him because he was only a consultant and not a law officer. There would come the time for the agent to take over but Kingsley knew that Reid would confidently hand over the baton for Jareau to finish this marathon interview at the correct moment.

"Mmm…So Nicola chose the weapon too?" Reid continued with a lead question.

"It couldn't be anything else really. A knife would have meant too much blood and would have been difficult if the target was wearing a thick coat because of the night chill setting in this time of year. Nicola also had a small gun and she taught me how to use it, she took me to her gun club and it was easier than I thought. We agreed that a bullet to the head would be perfect, although brain matter would be spattered and the 'temptress' would have to be well out of the way…."

"Oh definitely," agreed Reid mildly showing none of the revulsion he was feeling, "But that would need careful planning," he added with admiration in his voice. Detectives had already talked to people at the gun club and established that Nicola had taught a friend called Claire to shoot in a short space of time. When recently shown a photograph of Claire, taken from the Delaney's footage, they had all identified her as the friend.

Claire nodded thankful that this man seemed to appreciate the careful preparation that the two women had put into their actions.

"Yes, it did, we had to practice our moves to get it right and we decided on the temptress saying an agreed phrase, something that would excite the man but he'd not suspect the accomplice holding a gun near his head."

"But wasn't he suspicious that the accomplice was so near to him and the temptress? Afterall those two were getting pretty intimate," questioned Reid with curiosity in his voice and manner as he kept his gentle open features concentrated upon her face.

Claire then actually suddenly chuckled in delight. The watchers in the observation room collectively held their breaths in the commonly felt horror of hearing this attractive woman actually laugh about the murder of a man.

"No…none of them minded. All you had to do was to dare them to have sex in the shadows because you'd never done that before but it sounded exciting …You'd already softened them up with sex in the back of the car and they all just wanted sex full stop. They were told that the other would keep watch, just in case someone came along. We always chose the shadows alongside a development site in good parts of the city but one that didn't have a guard or CCTV fitted. These developments would be guarded once the expensive building equipment and materials started to arrive but, after pulling down the original building, there is usually a little window of opportunity before 'security' gets organised. It was simple, the information for all the proposed building sites are on the city's web development pages. Afterall, what city doesn't want to highlight its new developments and how it continues to attract money for new buildings? Well, like I said, you just keep your eyes open about the progress of the building," replied Claire her voice was quite animated with being able to reveal the extent of their planning. It was as if she was proving that Claire and Nicola were intelligent women and therefore it was natural for them to meticulously plan the murders.

"But Adam wasn't the first victim," said Reid with puzzlement in his voice and she looked at him and blinked at his stupidity and sighed before replying.

"Of course he wasn't the first target. We had to practise the routine and Nicola decided that she'd find a suitable target so I could practice with the gun. You see Nicola wasn't too sure about me and asked me a couple of times if I thought I really could shoot a man in the back of the head. Well I proved I could. Nicola picked up a guy called Fraser and he just didn't know what was coming. It was so easy, they all were," Claire replied lightly. "God they were all so out of it just thinking about sex and how we were going to be an easy lay. I mean it was so simple, the one who picked up the man just said, 'look we can do this in the shadows while the other keeps watch and when we get back to the apartment you can reward her…while I have a little rest.' What man is going to turn down a night with two women to satisfy his ego." Claire explained in a quiet and reasonable voice.

"Christ, are we all seen as so fickle?" said Ellison bleakly.

"Well I've never behaved like that," answered Kingsley primly.

Garland turned to look at the red haired agent and raised an eyebrow. "I met too many bed hopping men while at college and like a lot of my friends told them to keep it in their pants because I wasn't a potential conquest. But young men, away from home for the first time, can behave differently from how their families believe that they would conduct themselves or have you forgotten those wild days of a new freedom? The majority calm down to be quite civilised but you get some, like the typical sports jock, who think they can have a harem and the pick of females on offer."

Ellison felt uncomfortable under Garland's gaze; sometimes it was best not to think too deeply about your early student days. Kingsley gave him an understanding look and both men decided with this woman it was best to keep silent on this matter and the interview room once more became the focal point of interest.

"So Nicola chose Fraser, do you know why him, was it before you even went to the night club?"

"No, we just went out looking for a super-confident asshole," she smoothly answered back, "It wasn't difficult, they are often high earners and think they can have anything. We went to the best clubs to get the right clientele, but we were also careful about the amount of alcohol we had and we had promised each other never to have drugs…and believe me, there was always a choice on offer. But I decided that the one with the gun had to be sober because we had agreed the shooter would also do the driving. We couldn't take a taxi or we would have been tracked down too easily taking our victim anywhere and it wouldn't have been private enough in a taxi. Believe me, that time in the back of the car was the clincher…You had to get their trust and praise their performance so they'd be eager to show off a bit more…Anyway, Fraser and Nicola enjoyed themselves while I drove around a bit…"

"But how did you get them in the car…was it always your car?" Reid's soft voice continued to seek out detail.

"Yeah, mine had room in the back, you couldn't have stretched out for a bit of fun on the back seat in Nicola's sports…No, it was a good job that I had the sensible Mercedes. But it was all so easy; the temptress would ask if they came by taxi and if it was an affirmative then you turned on the charm. You asked them if they would like a lift and a bit a fun on the way home…Implying that a threesome might be on offer if they were interested…You know these men all fell for it, not one of the men we approached refused the offer. We always parked the car a few blocks away so we told them to leave so many minutes after us depending on how faraway we'd parked. We would pick up the victim in a side street…It was so simple, then the temptress would open the back door and entice them in, all done in a few seconds really and they were soon enjoying themselves on the back seat."

"Only the targeted victims …Didn't you women enjoy yourselves too?" pressed Reid carefully keeping a soft even voice so as not to alarm this woman and to keep her talking freely by not appearing judgmental in any way.

Claire shrugged, "Sometimes the sex was good but not always. The last one I had tempted, that was another Daniel, he couldn't perform in the car; probably too much alcohol or he was one of those you needed more coke than usual…Whatever, he was useless so I felt a bit cheated because Nicola usually enjoyed herself," she replied in a flat voice.

"Jeez…what a pair!" Ellison said under his breath but Garland and Kingsley heard him.

"A deadly combination of a friendship forged through a traumatic experience and the shared desire to teach men a lesson," Garland added in a weary tone without turning to face either of her companions in the small observation room.

"Yes, but what went wrong last night?" Kingsley asked the room and hoped that Reid would get her to talk about that soon.

"Yeah, is she as innocent and easily led as she makes out?" asked Ellison.

But the interview room was governed by its own pace as the account of the events unfolded and time meant little to the three people seated there. Reid was in no hurry and deliberately kept to his low key style with its gentle and unthreatening manner. He believed that this method would undermine the woman's practised replies for an interrogation, but it was still his duty to seek out the truth of her role in the murders.

"Where did you go after the killing of the 'targets'?" he continued with his soft melodious voice.

"We drove to my place to clean up. We would burn our clothes in the wood burner and we washed and vacuumed the car before we went to bed," she reported in a flat dejected way. It was as if the remnants of her feisty spirit had dissipated as she realised she had walked, with very little resistance, into the trap Dr. Reid had laid down for her.

"But last night things didn't go right did they?" the consultant asked solicitously inviting the woman to explain the tragic events that led to one of the friend's being dead.

Claire shook her head as if to clear her mind of the haunting memories of those moments when everything had not gone to plan.

"It was all Nicola's fault, she used the code phrase we had agreed on. Everything had gone to plan until then. She had picked up a guy called Daniel while I enjoyed the dance floor. He was just like the others and couldn't keep his hands of her once in the car so the dare of sex in the shadows was eagerly agreed upon. I was behind them, the gun already in my shoulder purse and Nicola was all prepared…She'd taken her panties off before Daniel even got into the car…it made things simpler and the man got the impression that she was there to have some fun with while I drove. So you can imagine, by the time they went into the shadows, the guy was not taking any notice of my presence. Then Nicola said the usual 'Hi baby, let me help a little down there' and she was then suppose to bend down out of the way to give some attention to the man's zip. That way her head should have been out of the way but it wasn't when I fired the gun on cue. You see, at the same time the man had moved his head out of the way stopping Nicola. The bastard moved, I thought later that he'd probably moved so he could suck at her nipple…but he wasn't supposed to do that. It was all Nicola's fault, her head wasn't supposed to be there. I couldn't stop the bulled once I'd pulled the trigger…You see it was all Nicola's fault. She'd the agreed words but she didn't get her head out of the way like she usually did, like I did …so you were out of the way when the bullet hit the back of the head." Claire's voice pleaded for understanding and her brown eyes welled up with tears for her friend and accomplice.

"You killed your friend by accident," Reid gently stated keeping his large compassionate puppy dog eyes on her and saw Claire's eyes well up and her lower lip tremble with the emotion she felt for her lost companion in crime.

"I would never have hurt Nicola, she was my friend. She understood what it was like to be treated like a sex object and then cast aside afterwards. We just wanted to get our own back and treat those men in the same way they had treated us," she whispered holding back her tears.

"But you still shot Daniel after you had killed Nicola…"

"I knew I had to…It was what I was supposed to do, I did it like Nicola had planned for the night," the woman justified with a tearful voice.

"But why did the pair of you go on to kill Keiron Hadlam, Daniel Plaine and Daniel Willard after taking your revenge of Armitage and Tyler?" the consultant asked in a slightly bewildered voice seeking for enlightenment from this intelligent woman.

Claire stared at him, and slightly cocked her head to one side as she considered this question while regaining control of her emotions.

"Because we wanted too. Nicola said we could rid the city of a few more predator males so we took it in turns to play the temptress and it was…" she stopped and Reid's eyes seemed to grow before the watchers into enormous dark pools of innocence as he waited for her to complete her sentence.

"It was what?" he mildly asked and Jareau thought the question echoed around the interview room.

The woman swallowed and stared back with eyes that suddenly lost their previous confidence. Jareau wondered if this was Claire realising that Reid had got her to confess to her part in the murders without any effort and she had fallen for his gentle and sympathetic manner.

"Shall I tell you what I think Claire?" Reid suddenly changed tack and his voice seemed firmer in tone although the volume was still soft.

Claire Valliere sat transfixed and nodded feeling all her ideas about pretending to be insane and switching from one mood to the next had all disappeared once in the presence of this harmless looking man.

"I think that the pair of you actually enjoyed the hunt, the sexual teasing of your victims and finally the killing of each of those men. You see by killing those men you felt empowered because you had the ultimate power over life and death and both of you enjoyed exercising that power. It amused you both that it was so easy to entice those men to their deaths. Four of those men had actually done nothing to you or Nicola in the past, but the pair of you worked together to take the lives of successful men who happened to be somewhat fickle in their relationships. Unfortunately, some men never quite out grow the teenage years and consider the one nightstand to be part of their successful life. The sex is an ego trip that they enjoy but they can't seem to settle down to one woman because that takes a commitment and effort and they enjoy the variety on offer too much…

None of those men deserved the bullet that was put into their heads, no matter how badly they might have treated women, not even Adam Tyler or Martin Armitage. But both you and Nicola were behaving no better yourselves because of the casual way you wanted sex before the kill just to prove that you still had power over the man, especially as you both knew what was coming next. You and Nicola were badly treated by the two men who date raped you but neither of them tried to kill you…"

"You're beginning to sound like that psych I saw!" Claire suddenly snapped back.

"No I'm not," Reid calmly stated, "I think that she should have counselled you better and helped you heal by showing you how to move on and to try to put the incident into perspective. You did say that the psych you saw did point out that you had not been taped, physically hurt, or kidnapped and held against your will…Although with the amount of alcohol and drugs you had consumed that had probably clouded your judgement and your subsequent memory. It's not a pleasant lesson and you learnt the hard way but I think your psych was trying to put your experience into perspective, considering perhaps some of her other patients who had suffered far more trauma and long term damage."

"You said you'd understand," Claire said and suddenly turned her attention to Jareau, "You said he'd understand!" she indignantly challenged the agent.

"Yes, I did and Dr. Reid has shown that he understands you very well," Agent Jareau calmly stated.

The observers collectively sighed and the two men grinned at Jareau's remark.

"What a piece of work. I don't think I would have liked Nicola either," said Garland as she continued to watch the interview scene.

"I think Reid would also say that both women were only children who had usually got their own way throughout their childhood and as a consequence expected the world to treat them well. Then they each had a bad experience, it was the stressor and they were thrown together by the need to right the perceived wrong done to them," said Kingsley quietly.

"Yes, but they didn't just kill the two guilty men, they had a trial run and then continued after taking the original revenge…Now that enters another realm of calculation. Like Reid said, they actually were enjoying the power they had over those men," said Ellison who was impressed with all he had seen that afternoon.

But things were moving on back in the interview room.

Claire had fallen silent but Dr. Reid was not finished.

Reid's voice dominated the room, "I believe that you returned home after killing Daniel and Nicola, like you usually did. You then set about cleaning up and destroying evidence, in the usual manner. But this time there was no triumph and you had no Nicola to help and to share the success of the evening like the previous times…White spirit perhaps after a coating of paint to get rid of any lingering gun residue?" he asked staring at her red hands. "But there was still the gun. Now that is odd, you knew that you had to get rid of it because it tied you to the murders. You see you could have claimed that you dropped Nicola and Daniel off before continuing to New Rochelle, especially as you had cleaned your car and destroyed any other evidence from it. I think you spent the rest of the night cleaning and thinking about your alibi. The major obstacle was the murder weapon because it was still in your possession. By the morning, you knew from the news reports that the police were looking for you and it would only be a matter of time before someone provided your name and address.

You were found just sitting with the gun in your lap. It was empty so you were not considering taking your own life. You had driven to that big park because there were lots of possible places to hide that damning piece of evidence but you had left it too late because there you were confronted by the FBI. Thinking quickly, you played the role of the mentally distracted accomplice and the one who was lead astray by the stronger murderess. Perhaps you had anticipated being caught so had already considered this course you now took and a woman of your intelligence would have had been practising the responses to possible questions in an interview situation. If you played the instability card, with the mood swings, it would put doubt into a juror's mind. I think you also hoped for a more dramatic interview with agents pressuring you to confess. Finally, you hope a sympathetic lawyer will put forward a defence of temporary insanity caused by the traumatic experience of a date rape. Perhaps you even planned to use a tape of this interview to show undue pressure on a 'disturbed' mind by Bureau personnel. Well, Ms. Valliere, I did not play the role you anticipated…

Agent Jareau, I think it's time for you to formally charge Claire Valliere," he calmly announced and pressed his hands down on the table as he pushed his chair back and rose up to his full height.

Claire Valliere watched the whole movement. She was annoyed with herself that all her practising had not helped her once since Dr. Reid had entered the room. Claire mentally cursed herself, she had been wrong not to have a lawyer when she thought she could use that refusal as evidence that she wasn't thinking straight as a law student. She had miscalculated that her actions since found in the car park would help her to put forward a plea of temporary insanity…This quiet man had been correct, he had understood her moves all along. Claire wondered whom to have as her lawyer, it would have to be someone with experience and preferably one who was sympathetic to women and could stress her role as the misguided victim whose actions had got out of hand.

"Good day, Ms Valliere," Reid formally said as he turned away from her and reached for the door. As he went he could hear J.J. beginning to formally charge the murderess and state her rights in law.

Reid stood in the corridor for a few minutes to gather his thoughts and Kingsley stepped out of the observation room to find him.

"That was a pleasant piece of interrogation masked as a concerned chat," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"It was what the lady said she wanted…just to chat to me, but I was not going to play her game. However, I do think that she is genuinely upset over Nicola's death and that is what made her especially vulnerable. I don't think she would have been such an easy pushover had she not made that kill…"

"But those six men…"

"Were the victims of cold hearted planning. Like I said, two women brought together by a common traumatic experience and then they liked the power they had and exercised that ultimate power over life and death. Thankfully, it's rare for a traumatised victim to react in this way but Tyler and Armitage sounded insensitive bastards towards women. I wonder if the previous women in their lives will have the guts to tell the truth now we have the reason behind these murders," said Reid as he began to walk toward the coffee machine with Kingsley beside him.

"Do you think a good lawyer will get her off?"

"I don't think so. She's not insane, upset but not insane, and all that preparation on Claire's part; learning how to shoot and changing her lifestyle by entering the club scene…no it all shows pre-meditation. I don't think Mrs Morgan-Paterson is going to like our version of events, having a daughter who was one half of a murdering pair of women isn't something any of us would like, but for a woman of her social standing it will be particularly difficult. I suspect she will try to put all the blame on to Valliere, however, we do have the evidence of Nicola teaching Claire to shoot and how Claire's behaviour had changed with that friendship…Isn't that what Valliere's neighbour had said to you?"

"Oh yes, Mrs. Lancaster…To think that was only this morning…Things have really just taken off so fast!"

"Yes…and evidence about the two women is still being gathered. By the time it comes to court there should be a solid case to show that they were equal partners. Remember, Claire said that she was the one who had insisted that the one with the gun, who would also be driving, shouldn't drink any alcohol…"

"You do see them as equal partners then?" Kingsley asked as Reid passed him a coffee cup.

"Yes, I do, despite her performance. I think they latched onto one another because they both originally wanted revenge and to make Tyler and Armitage suffer and the ultimate suffering was death. But they enjoyed the plotting and the actual murders and they wanted to feel that thrill of the ultimate control over a man's life again and again. I'm not convinced that they kept murdering as a service to other women. Revenge, Matt, woman take their time to plot their revenge and these crimes were well thought out and, lets face it, they might have even got away with a few more murders before they were caught. Nicola's death was the unexpected and fate played us a hand to take advantage of…But revenge and power, that ultimate control over another's life…heady stuff. They were a dangerous pair of ladies! I think J.J. will enjoy the next news conference."

"Won't you?" Kingsley asked.

"No, not really, I did produce the profile that got people thinking in the right direction but I'd not expected another death, or rather two deaths, so soon…Like I said, fate helped us this time. But the Chief of Police and the Mayor will both want to be seen on the same platform, each with their own agenda…I don't like news conferences that get hi-jacked by political considerations. No, I think it will be far better if we praise the work of the LEOs and just say that we were glad to help and get on that plane back home," replied Dr. Reid as he sipped the awful cheap coffee.

Two hours later, the team was back on the plane heading homeward. Reid leaned back into his seat and felt pleased that the jet had been reinstated while he was still with the CACU. Hotch had told him that his high profile successes, that culminated with the paedophile ring in the Washington area, had all helped to get their government funding restored. So the jet was returned to service along with the comfort and convenience of getting to far-flung places as quickly as possible and that all helped any case that they had to work on.

Reid closed his eyes but he was not asleep, he just didn't want to be disturbed. He listened to the team as they wound down and he felt the tensions between the personalities. Reid suddenly felt a twinge of nostalgia for the old team and the banter that could flow and the card playing with himself trying to cheat undetected all the way along. He recalled conversations that he sometimes had with Gideon or Hotch after particularly disturbing cases; they had both been conscious of his sensitivity and their need to make sure that the youngest team member was coping. It was ironic that with his difficult childhood he had learnt a number of coping mechanisms that still worked for him in profiling.

Spencer suddenly thought of Elle. He'd not thought about her for some time but now he wondered what she was doing these days. He had tried to help her but he knew that she only saw him as the youngest team member and not with the gravitas that Gideon and Hotch naturally had. It would be so different now, of course, people naturally looked to him for his advice and dispensing of his expertise…but he had earned that reputation since Elle's departure. Reid wondered how Elle would have managed in this team. She would probably have clashed with Kingsley, as much as Morgan did, but then Elle always got on well with Morgan and she definitely came from a tough female cop background. The well-worn expression, 'one of the boys' naturally sprang to mind whenever he thought of Elle. However, she could also pull Morgan into line so perhaps she would have been an asset, rather than a liability, if she had stayed. 'If'' was a big word! Elle had left under a cloud but Hotch was right, you couldn't have an agent who you couldn't trust at your back or in the field. Poor Elle had lost her nerve and her last kill had been suspect. She had needed help but she had refused it when offered. Hotch had taken the only course open to him but Spencer also knew that Hotch regretted the way that Elle had forced his hand.

Spencer felt it would do no good raking over past issues and turned his mind to a new internal game, that of choosing names for the expected baby. After he became bored with that diversion, he began to think about the possibility of regularly keeping a journal just like his own father had done after he had left them for England. That journal was now one of his most precious possessions along with his father's violin and purple scarf. It was a source of evidence of the depth of love that his father had felt for Diana and their son and Spencer often found solace in the words the man had written. Life was rarely a simple journey and he hoped one day to show his own child the journal that their long dead grandfather had produced. Perhaps he too should try to record the little expressions of love and private thoughts on matters that reveal the depth of one's hidden feelings.

Dr. Reid went back with the team to Quantico because he had not used his own car in the early morning. As soon they entered the Unit, Garcia's voice resounded in the bullpen, " The Doctor's back!" and various staff turned to nod or smile a greeting to the returning team.

Barry stopped chatting to Prentiss outside his office and was ready to greet the returning successful team with a smile along with "Well done, all of you, another good outcome for the BAU."

Kingsley beamed at the praise but he also added, "Well we had the help of our new consultant and the Doctor here cast his spell and charmed the Chief of Police and the Mayor!"

"Well that's what's he paid for," quipped Barry cheerfully knowing that he had known Reid the longest in that room and his gentle humour would not offend. It seemed a long time ago now but that had been a time when Gideon had headed the unit and that team no longer existed.

"Oh yeah…the pay, yeah its not bad…much better than the meagre agent's pay I was on before. But do I get extra for the unexpected travel?" he grinned mischievously at Barry.

Garcia's excited voice cut through the banter, "You've got several requests on your desk…"

"Garcia! I'm supposed to be heading this unit and that means I tell the Doctor about such things," he chided but Garcia looked defiant and grinned at the boss before her. Barry slowly shook his head and turned once more to Reid, "There are several requests for making time to interview some of our more vicious prison inmates," Barry replied in mock exasperation. Everyone in the bullpen knew that Garcia and Barry had a good working relationship and Barry enjoyed the grumbling tyrant role he played to Garcia's extrovert rebel, but only when the office was winding down. It all helped to break the tension of some of the more hectic days.

Reid nodded and headed for the steps, dragging his small case on wheels behind him. He then noticed Prentiss buttoning up her purple winter coat at the base of the steps, "Your court appearance work out?"

"Fine, the evidence we had against that pair was solid but the whole team had a grilling by their lawyers," she replied. "Hotch personally warned us about the lawyers, apparently he'd trained with them in New York," Emily explained, "The rest of my team have already gone home but I had to go over the Jacquard case with Steven Gardell because I'm back in court on Monday."

"I bet he's prepared you well so have a relaxing weekend," Reid answered with a smile that the tall and elegant woman returned.

"Oh George and I have something planned to take my mind off work!" she replied as her face lit up with delight, "But I'm not saying so no one can find me to drag me back here!"

"Right! Well enjoy it!" Reid said as she winked at him and made her way to the exit doors.

Reid was pleased that Morgan had slipped on his wedding ring while on the jet and was now speaking to Angela on his phone.

"I'm about to leave…How's little Juliet? Good, I'll look forward to that…"

Morgan raised his hand in farewell to the team members as he too headed for the doors, "I'm out of here…have a great weekend every one!"

"My love to Angie and Juliet!" J.J. called to the departing agent and Morgan briefly turned to give his colleague one of his devastating smiles in reply.

As Reid slowly mounted the steps with his case, he heard Kingsley address Ellison.

"Got anything special planned this weekend?"

"Promised to have Sunday with my brother's family but I'm just going to take it easy tomorrow, Emma's on duty tonight but we'll probably go out for a meal tomorrow evening."

"Good," Kingsley replied, "At least nurses understand our rotten hours!"

Reid concentrated on walking steadily to his office. His stump was a pain and he didn't want his colleagues to notice. The office chair was comfortable and he sank down and reached for the pile of letters and various internal messages that had accumulated for him in such a short time.

A few minutes later a familiar voice broke through his concentration.

"The word soon got around that you'd officially taken up residence here," Hotch said ruefully eyeing the papers.

"It's good to finally be back but didn't feel right until I'd got my first case sorted," he confessed and Hotch nodded his understanding.

"It's good to have you back at the BAU, you've been missed while on secondment, but you're definitely on form after your performance in New York."

"Yeah…well I thought the travelling was supposed to be less," he answered.

"You didn't say no," Hotch reminded him softly and wondered if he'd put too much pressure on Reid to take the case.

"I couldn't Hotch…I was needed but I know I won't always be able to go with a team…I've so much to do here," he replied and pointed to the letters and papers on his desk.

"You'll find a way to make it work, Spencer. You're a well-respected criminal psychologist and profiler. The demands for your expertise are probably going to increase rather than lessen," Hotch quietly stated and then lightened his tone, "I'm here to offer you a lift home because I sent a car this morning to take you to the jet. Just remember, not everyone gets driven home by their Section Chief."

"Except when he's feeling a bit guilty about sending one of his people away at very short notice after everyone had agreed I was supposed to be office based," Spencer replied reminding the older man of Pentall's concerns about his return to the BAU so soon.

"Is Jo really pissed about it?" Hotch asked deciding not to tell Reid that Max had been to see him in the morning after he'd seen the news report with Reid obviously in New York

"She expected it to happen sometime, but not quite so soon," replied the younger man getting ready to push himself upright.

"Well I can see her point it was within a few hours of sitting at your desk here…Will it help if I tell her that I wasn't expecting things to move so quickly either?" Hotch offered.

"I shouldn't worry about it…The job is full of the unexpected and I think Jo is used to it all by now."

The younger man had used his hands, pressed down on the desktop, to push himself up out of his chair. The Section Chief watched the action. He had seen the man do this often since his rehabilitation but Hotch also noticed the dark lines that were now apparent under his eyes. It had obviously been a long 24 hours for Reid and he'd probably devoted all his energy to the case.

Reid reached for his tan messenger bag and placed the internal and general mail inside and closed it up. He looked up into Hotch's serious face.

"What?" Reid asked in reply to his superior's scrutiny.

Hotch sighed, "Jo's going to kill me…You look tired."

"Don't fuss, the case took off and we all worked hard on it. I rested on the jet and the whole team needs to wind down and that's what we're all going to do."

Hotch nodded but he wanted to talk about Kingsley's team on the drive, that way they would not be overheard. The Section Chief wasn't too happy about its dynamics and that put an unnecessary strain on Kingsley. Hotch picked up Reid's suitcase and lead the way out, Reid paused to switch the light off and close the door. His eyes settled briefly on the nameplate; he was home and felt worthy of the position now he'd notched up his first major case. He turned and carefully headed for the steps, Hotch was already at the bullpen level. Reid held on the handrail to steady his descent.

Across the bullpen, Kingsley and Barry observed the progress of the younger man.

"It was good to have him with us," Kingsley softly said to Barry.

"It's good that's he's still with us," Barry added and smiled as Kingsley turned to respond to the warmth in Barry's voice and the big black American nodded and returned the smile. Kingsley said no more but he was pleased that Reid was with the BAU, he just had that rare ability to form a unifying link between strong personalities and to quietly hold steady under pressure. He had obviously learnt a lot from working under Hotchner.

The Reid house had the drapes and blinds drawn with several windows indicating that there were lights on in a few rooms on the different floors. But as Spencer walked up the path to the front door he had noticed the attic lights were on and that meant Jo was busy with her artwork. She loved the attic rooms and had claimed the domain for herself. Spencer raised no objection, she was talented and JEM was building a following and her pictures could command six figure sums now.

Spencer entered his home softly and took off his messenger bag and placed it in the study, an area that was considered his personal space. Jo rarely worked in there unlike when they lived in the rented Berwyn Heights house, but he had claimed the painting of the 'apple tree' from that home for one of the study walls. It gave him a feeling of calmness and the desire to create the kind of family home that the Petersens had made. He was neither hungry nor thirsty and his inner self acknowledged that he'd been drinking too much coffee and would have some mint or camomile tea later. After hanging up his corduroy jacket and overcoat he headed slowly up the stairs to surprise his beloved wife.

When he reached the top floor he could hear the soft tones of a lute CD and instantly recognised the early 16th century pieces of the Italian Marco Dall'Aquila. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do next time he went to his office; he would take in his spare lute. Spencer was sure that its gentle tones would not disturb the bullpen and no one would hear him if his door was closed but it would be part to his working world that he had created in that room at Quantico. The musical instrument would be the final piece alongside Jo's desert painting, the chess and Go sets, coffee machine, berry red mugs and the standard professional volumes. It was with this decision that Spencer Reid felt an inner contentment settle, he was finally to be himself, in the place where Gideon had hoped he would succeed him. It had been an interesting journey but the experiences, although not always easy, had given him the strength to take up the challenges offered to him.

Spencer carefully pushed open the door that had been slightly ajar. He stood watching Jo in her old painting shirt, one of her father's old blue shirts, that was splattered in acrylic and oil paint of various colours. It was worn over a pair of old grey pants that looked as if they might have belonged to Margaret because they were not like Jo's usual denims or tailored pants. She wore an equally worn pair of once white scandals with a very low heel. Spencer smiled, few art critics or her clientele would have believed this to be the sought after JEM. Meanwhile, Jo was intent on putting the final touches to another desert scene.

The scene evoked memories of the week spent in Nevada and the last visit they had made to see his mother. Diana Reid knew he was married but the fact did not fit into Diana's version of the world. To his mother, he would always be the young bachelor son who had committed her to the institution that was now her home. The Bennington was an excellent and expensive nursing home for the mentally ill, but it was sadly also a kind of prison for Diana because with her illness she could never cope with living out in the community. The schizophrenia had taken its toll over the years and the drugs she took to control the most distressing symptoms of her mental state were beginning to effect her general health. They had visited her together and, like on previous visits, Spencer had played his lute and Jo sang for her and any residents who wished to join them in the sitting room of the east wing. Diana refused to acknowledge that Jo was his wife but she did say that she had a charming voice.

On this occasion they had also told Diana that she was to be a grandmother. Diana had stared at the pair in silence and they waited for a reaction. Spencer had hoped at least for a smile of acceptance but suddenly his mother spoke the words that he would not forget…

"I have a lecture to prepare for my students on Dante, such a wonderful topic at this time of year and your music was so appropriate, Good day," she had said and rose gracefully and turned away from them to leave the room. Dr. Anne Chow, who had stayed for their little concert and witnessed the scene, came over to them.

"I'm sorry, Spencer but your mother has only ever heard what she has wanted to hear and she gets no better. But I wish to congratulate you both on your wonderful news and hope all goes well for your pregnancy…You must be very excited," Dr. Chow said with a warm smile.

"Thank you, we are," Jo had replied covering for Spencer's silence.

He had quickly chided himself for being hurt by his mother's reaction. She was ill and couldn't help how she reacted to her environment. Most of the time she was terrified of her immediate world and often escaped into her comfortable and controlling one of the past, where she had been a successful teacher. This was Diana Reid's way of dealing with the unexpected and the unwanted changes that might be inflicted upon her.

Jo had squeezed his hand in understanding. She had not made matters worse by saying the obvious like it didn't matter because the Petersen family was thrilled about their news. Jo was sensitive enough to know that Diana could still affect him, even if he could reason her reaction away by blaming the 'illness'.

"Spencer!" Jo had turned and was now beaming at him and his tiredness seemed to recede in the smile for his homecoming. She put down her brush and reached for a 'wet wipe' in an attempt to remove the paint on her fingers.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked as she busied herself cleaning her hands.

"Not long, it was just good to watch you and listen to the Ricercar…You don't often work to Italian lute music."

"Guess I've missed hearing you play…It's a very smoothing CD and there's some Da Crema later. Are you hungry? A drink?" she asked noting how tired he looked.

Spencer shook his head, "I'm fine for the moment, I just wanted to come home to normality. You've been very busy recently," he added looking along the far wall at the finished canvasses propped up and waiting for the finishing touch of a frame. He was an expert at smoothly directing the conversation away from work and Jo was no fool but played along.

"Yeah…I've been just full of ideas these past few months and I've got gallery space at the Art Factory for a special show in 9 weeks. I might get some good prices for the canvasses that have been lying around as well as these new ones. It will be all good for the college funds!" she replied grinning.

Spencer raised his eyebrows in mock surprise, "College funds, just how many children do you have in mind because on your current popularity, just one of these will pay school and college fees easily for a couple!"

"Well, I've always told you I've never wanted an only child and I thought you agreed on that so…at least two!"

"Right…but number one is still incubating in there," he said staring at her abdomen, "Unless it's twins?" he asked suddenly not quite sure of the answer but she usually only referred to the baby.

"No, definitely just one," she replied, "But I had a good education and its expensive so I'm doing my bit while my work is in fashion," she explained and then changed the subject.

"Like my pants? They're a pair of Mom's…" she lifted the shirted to reveal the waist band, "Draw string waist, I can't get in mine any more. I'll have to do some shopping for maternity clothes soon," she grinned triumphantly and began to unbutton the stained shirt to reveal a clean navy and white broad striped tee shirt beneath.

"You're looking less pale tonight," he said moving toward her to give her a warm embrace.

"Yeah, first day without being sick for most of it," she mumbled into his chest. It felt good to have him safely home. "Everyone happy with the outcome of the case?"

"Yeah…Things moved really quickly and the rest of the background investigation can be completed without us now, but I got her to admit her part along with the why and how they planned the murders... That's why we came back, Hotch gave me a lift home."

"Nice of him," she said rubbing her hands in a circular motion on his back. She knew he liked that and could feel his muscles relax under her touch.

Reid just let the warm contentment flow over him. He considered himself to be a very fortunate man, not only to be alive but because he also had Jo sharing his world. The job was demanding but Spencer often recalled having overheard Hotch tell Elle that he coped by giving the job 100 percent while at work, but his family got 100 per cent of his attention when he went home. Spencer felt that Hotch had got the balance right, although every agent knew that they needed that special partner who could cope with the stresses of the work and it wasn't easy. They did need some wind down time when they got home and that included Spencer now, he may no longer be an agent but he was still involved in working with distressing cases. So far, Jo had coped with the FBI demands on their time together. Spencer treasured the life he had and he hoped that the baby would make their joy of being alive even more intense and precious.

Later, that night when Spencer held close Jo's dozing body in bed, he wondered how the Bureau would react to his spare lute taking up residence at the BAU…No doubt about it, Dr. Spencer Reid was going to add a few more extra details to his growing legend!

The End.

I do have another story that belongs to this universe, with the Reids and the Hotchners and their respective families, but I plan posting it next year. But for now, I'm going to leave the newly appointed Senior Consultant and concentrate on writing some other Criminal Minds stories that have been inhabiting my imagination alongside some science fiction pieces.


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